The phrase 'cult classic' gets tossed around a lot. But Donnie Darko is unquestionably a cult-hit. While some cult films have actually make a half-decent return at the box-office, most (like Batman: Mask of the Phantasm) don't. Donnie Darko, however, didn't... At least, not initially. It made far more money in DVD sales than it did at the box office. And it has maintained cult status ever since its release in 2001. It also ranks among the best cult films that are worth re-watching over and over again. But how did this strange movie about time travel, the end of the world, and a man in a scary bunny costume come to be? Thanks to a revealing article by The Ringer we now know exactly how... Let's take a look...
A Piece Of Ice Fell From The Sky And Donnie Darko Was Born
Richard Kelly is the mastermind behind the script and direction of 2001's Donnie Darko. When he conceived the idea, he was fresh out of USC film school and working as an assistant at a post-production company in Hollywood. It was during this time that he decided that he needed to write a feature film.
When brainstorming ideas, the first thing that came to his mind was the news report that he saw as a little kid growing up in Richmond, Virginia. The report showed a chunk of ice that fell off of a plane and landed in a kid's bedroom. This visceral image caused him to try and figure out what that moment might mean logically as well as metaphorically and spiritually. Ultimately, it boiled down to, 'what is the meaning of life?'
This was the inception of Donnie Darko.
The genre-hopping script was something that producers were very interested in. Although, they weren't interested in Richard Kelly directing it, according to his interview with The Ringer. However, once he attracted a few major stars, Richard was allowed to direct his entirely original piece. Unfortunately, due to its delayed release after 9/11 and a host of other issues, it never hit-home with audiences until it was released on DVD and started to build a cult following.
And this all happened because a piece of ice fell off a passing jet and crash-landed in a boy's bedroom.
"Instead of it being a piece of ice, in my mind, I decided, 'What if it’s an actual engine that somehow gets ripped off a plane?'" Richard Kelly told The Ringer. "Then I thought, 'What happened to the plane?' The plane would have crashed. Then I thought, 'What if they never found the plane?' There was no plane and they couldn’t figure out where the engine came from. I thought, 'OK, that’s a cool mystery.'"
How Did Hollywood Initially Respond?
The entirety of this mystery was formulated as Richard was getting food for stars like Weird Al Yankovic at the post-production studio. In his off-hours, he'd be penning the screenplay which originally turned out to be a whopping 145 pages, according to Richard Kelly.
"I had never read anything like this before," producer Sean McKittrick said to The Ringer. "I mean, that was the first thought. Then it was just a matter of, OK, how do we get this to a palatable length? And how do we make it understandable enough?"
Line producer Thomas Hayslip had a similar problem understanding the complexity of the philosophical and scientific elements of the original Donnie Darko script.
"I read it. I kind of scratched my head," Thomas Hayslip said. "I read it again. At the time, my girlfriend, now my wife, was working in acquisitions at Artisan [Entertainment]. She read it. She was like, 'This is amazing.'"
This caused Richard to trim about 10 pages and start sending it around to the Hollywood agencies to start setting himself up.
"Dave Ruddy, who worked for Beth Swofford, a big literary agent at CAA, really liked the script a lot. We went to this Mexican tequila bar/restaurant on Third Street in West Hollywood. Dave sort of vetted me to make sure I wasn’t a serial killer. He’s like, 'OK, well, I’m going to give this to my boss,'" Richard Kelly said. "A few days later I’m in my apartment with my two roommates in Manhattan Beach, and I get a call from all these CAA agents. There were like four people on the line and they were telling me how much they loved my script."
While some didn't quite get the script at first, they all knew it was something special. Therefore, the agents all focused-in on developing the script with Richard to make it a story that more people could grab ahold of. However, so much of the script was already working... This included the well-written dialogue and the general rhythm of the story that really set Richard Kelly apart from other filmmakers in his generation.