DONNIE DARKO 2 starts filming May 18th!

It's titled S. Darko and has none of the original major players involved or the blessing of the original writer/director Richard Kelly.

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Believe it or not but in nine days time a sequel to Donnie Darko will begin shooting - a feature which has none of the cast or crew from the 2001 original involved and nor does it have the backing of the original film's writer/director Richard Kelly.

The film is titled S. Darko (????) and UK sales company Velvet Octopus will be shopping the film around Cannes, though Fox have already agreed to distribute in America. Unknown helmer Chris Fisher will direct the $10 million feature.

Daviegh Chase reprises her role as Donnie's younger sister. The cast for S. Darko also includes Ed Westwick (Son of Rambow, Gossip Girl), Briana Evigan (Step Up 2: The Streets) and Justin Chatwin (Dragonball). The story picks up seven years after the first film when little sister Samantha Darko and her best friend Corey are now 18 and on a roadtrip to Los Angeles when they are plagued by bizarre visions.

Bizarre.

I really enjoyed the original movie and despite it's ambiguous ending, I really don't like the idea of a sequel - not least because of it's hastily made and is an obvious money hungry venture.

Donnie Darko made only 1/10th worldwide of the budget of this new low budget sequel but of course because it became such a massive cult seller on DVD, it's not hard to believe it could make back it's money... and a whole lot more. Though without Jake Gyllenhaal, it will have a hard time getting the fans back to see a sequel. Here's the cast... A now slightly older Daveigh Chase...

Ed Westwick... Justin Chatwin...

source - screen daily