Back in February, a Production Weekly listing had Richard Kelly starting production on a new film in the fall. No title, casting, or plot details were revealed in the listing. His longtime creative partner Ted Hamm was supposed to produce. Nothing came of it.
However, maybe there is in fact a project brewing for Kelly? Here’s a director who hasn’t released a film in 17 years, but who has also repeated, many times, that he’s been working on ten to twelve different projects—almost all of them already scripted—these last two decades. Or, in his own words, “enough screenplay material to last me for the rest of my life.”
This readiness to move out of the writing phase and back into directing is what he’s hinting at in this very recent interview with a Mexican outlet last week. In fact, Kelly, ever the superstitious fella, is saying that something might be coming very soon, but he doesn’t want to say what exactly:
I’m terrified to even talk about any of my new projects because I’ve had so many false starts, road blocks, and just circumstances that have prevented the movie from moving forward. However, I am very hopeful that one of them will be moving forward very soon, but I can’t say anything because I’m too scared, too superstitious at this point.
So, something might be brewing? But who is willing to give Kelly the money to make another one of his fever dreams? The industry has changed—for the worse—and filmmakers like Kelly don’t currently fit this latest mold of the business.
There’s never been any question that Kelly wants to direct again, and there have been clear attempts at doing just that, but his wild ambitions and refusal to adhere to studio restrictions have paved the way for many hurdles these last two decades.
As we speak, Kelly has only helmed three films in 26 years, including “Donnie Darko” and “Southland Tales.” His last one was released in 2009 (“The Box”), and ever since then he’s been writing.
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 from moviemaking has felt puzzling. What this next film might be is anybody’s guess. I just hope it’s not the “Southland Tales” prequel he’s been teasing us about for many years now.