There are few directors as unique as Richard Kelly.
The filmmaker started off his career with the cult classic “Donnie Darko,” and “The Box” is still an underrated film. Sadly, his career has been marked by “Southland Tales,” often regarded as one of the biggest disasters in modern film, and which premiered at Cannes 2006 to very hostile reviews.
In a new interview, Kelly says that his 17-year absence in directing hasn’t been purposeful. In fact, he claims that he’s trying to get stuff rolling, and that he has a bunch of projects in the works (via The Movie That Made Me).
I have so much [going on]. I’m literally working on ten different things, and I’m waiting to see which project the movie Gods will bless with the green light. No, but literally, I have so many things that I’m working on and I’m very excited about that.
It also appears as though Kelly isn’t ready to let go of “Southland Tales.” He wants to make another one, which he had previously hinted could be a prequel or a sequel:
I really hope to do more “Southland Tales.” It’s just a question of how much it costs and whether or not I’m bringing back the actors […] there’s different ways in which it could happen.
Set in the near future of 2008, the film told the story of Southland, an alternate history version of Southern California that was made as a dark comedy/satire. The cast featured Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake. After the disastrous Cannes debut, the film was heavily edited and ended up making $374,743 against a reported $17M budget.
As we speak, Kelly has only helmed three films in his strange career. He was only 26 when “Donnie Darko” was released. Before that, he was a young graduate of film studies at the University of Southern California. ‘Darko’ wasn’t even a hit, but garnered a feverishly cult fanbase on home video. It ended up placing 40th on our 2000s Critics Poll.
So, the mystery behind Kelly continues. Some might call him a one-hit wonder, and maybe he will end up being just that, but his total disappearance has been truly bewildering. He still wants to make movies and there’s a clear attempt at doing just that, but, call it bad luck, or refusing to adhere to studio restrictions, he’s had many hurdles to overcome in trying to greenlight his fourth feature film.