# So, apparently there's a sequel to Donnie Darko. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 20, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642 "2009-07-20T16:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/1 "2009-07-20T16:37:54Z")
I was browsing DVDs yesterday and saw [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231277/), which appears to be a Donnie Darko sequel set 8 years after the event in the original movie and focusing on Donnie’s sister Samantha. I’m a big fan of the original, but from all signs point to this being crap (Richard Kelly wasn’t involved; straight-to-DVD release). Has anyone seen it? ---
**Author:** ![Is\_it\_safe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/6de8d8/32.png) [@Is\_it\_safe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Is_it_safe)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/2 "2009-07-20T16:59:35Z")
Do not buy this. Do not rent it. If someone offers to watch it with you you should run screaming into the night. I’ve seen it. Somehow I managed to make myself watch it all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/3 "2009-07-20T18:04:34Z")
I saw it and was highly disappointed. It is a waste of time. It is poorly acted and the story is just dumb. You know how Donnie had to die in the end to reset the universe back to what it was supposed to be? Well in this one someone dies to reset the universe so that someone else can die to reset the universe so that someone else can die to reset the universe so that Donnie’s sister can die to reset the universe. Or something very close to that because about half way through I gave up on it and just half-paid attention to it as I went about doing something productive. ---
**Author:** ![clnilsen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@clnilsen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clnilsen)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/4 "2009-07-20T18:49:01Z")
> [@I'm Not Dennis Bergkamp](#): > > I was browsing DVDs yesterday and saw [this](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1231277/), which appears to be a Donnie Darko sequel set 8 years after the event in the original movie and focusing on Donnie’s sister Samantha. No, it’s not. They have never done a sequel to DD. Move along now, nothing to see. This is kind of like those 4.99$ wal-mart cartoons that they sell in the checkout line with the same title as the latest Disney offering that confused Grandmothers buy. ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/5 "2009-07-20T19:15:34Z")
That bad, huh? Disappointing, but not unexpected. I have to wonder what the point was of making what sounds like such a poor attempt at a sequel, since I didn’t think _Donnie Darko_ had _that_ much of a cult following to make something like this profitable. Now, _Sparkle Motion: The Movie_, that’s something I could see watching. 🙂 Oh well. Thanks for the heads-up, everyone. Guess I’ll just wait for the _Watchmen_ release tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![ascensions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@ascensions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ascensions)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/6 "2009-07-20T20:03:20Z")
I enjoyed it, thought it kept true to the original movie, with taking it in a new direction… Well worth a watch IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/7 "2009-07-20T20:14:37Z")
I got about a half-hour into it. As near as I can make out, our entire reality is actually merely a tangent universe in which screenwriter Nathan Atkins has yet to realize that he is/was _supposed_ to have placed himself directly under some massive, plummeting object – because the universe is just better that way, on balance. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/8 "2009-07-20T20:33:04Z")
I noticed its existence the other week and got a definite ‘Oh man this has to be awful’ feeling, especially since I’d heard about it while it was in pre-production and then… nothing. Thanks for confirming my fears, everyone! ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/9 "2009-07-21T06:14:56Z")
Well, I was fool enough to buy the damned thing. Shame, that. FWIW: The movie is (I think) from the POV of the “Manipulated Dead”. Sooo… anybody want a free, slightly-used DVD? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/10 "2009-07-21T11:18:54Z")
> [@clnilsen](#): > > No, it’s not. They have never done a sequel to DD. Move along now, nothing to see. > > This is kind of like those 4.99$ wal-mart cartoons that they sell in the checkout line with the same title as the latest Disney offering that confused Grandmothers buy. SD is as bad as DD is good. It’s only redeeming quality is that while watching it, anyone can write a better movie in their heads. And as a 20-year WM associate, that last bit is the God-honest truth!!! ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/11 "2009-07-21T11:20:36Z")
> [@ascensions](#): > > I enjoyed it, thought it kept true to the original movie, with taking it in a new direction… Well worth a watch IMO. Well, when we do the movie for The Lottery, we see who just drew the black dot! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/12 "2009-10-13T08:00:58Z")
Finally saw this. I kind of liked it. It was certainly well made, and well intentioned. It was a bit derivative. But knowing the “rules” of time travel from the first movie, it was interesting to know that Iraq Jack would have to eventually decide to die, and to see ‘how’ the world would end, and to expect Sam to die at some point, though the death of her friend through the second time loop made Sam’s first death unexpected since she wasn’t in her dress. I didn’t quite get the magical feather. The music and ambiance were great. A little sad that the kids didn’ get rescued. The casting was mostly great except for Iraq Jack. The references to the other movie - Sparrow and Sparkle Motion, were fun. Ultimately, a good effort if a bit derivative/ ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/13 "2009-10-13T08:47:00Z")
Damn you **I’m not dennis Bergkamp** ;), I also never heard of this movie and would have been happy to keep it that way for the rest of my life. As soon as I saw the imdb page I knew it would most likely be crap - as most of the reactions seem to indicate - but just knowing there is more Donnie Darko…I’m sure there will come a point in time - maybe this week, maybe this month or maybe in 5 years - where I will involuntarily click my mouse a couple of times only to find out I have just ordered the dvd… ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/14 "2009-10-13T13:00:10Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Damn you **I’m not dennis Bergkamp** ;), I also never heard of this movie and would have been happy to keep it that way for the rest of my life. As soon as I saw the imdb page I knew it would most likely be crap - as most of the reactions seem to indicate - but just knowing there is more Donnie Darko…I’m sure there will come a point in time - maybe this week, maybe this month or maybe in 5 years - where I will involuntarily click my mouse a couple of times only to find out I have just ordered the dvd… NO! RESIST! This does not have anything to do with Donny Darko. It merely has the same actress playing a part with the same name as the little sister. There is no reason on God’s green Earth why any fan of DD needs to see this dreck! ---
**Author:** ![Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Ian\_D.Bergkamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ian_D.Bergkamp)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/15 "2009-10-13T14:38:05Z")
> [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](#): > > Damn you **I’m not dennis Bergkamp** ;), I also never heard of this movie and would have been happy to keep it that way for the rest of my life. As soon as I saw the imdb page I knew it would most likely be crap - as most of the reactions seem to indicate - but just knowing there is more Donnie Darko…I’m sure there will come a point in time - maybe this week, maybe this month or maybe in 5 years - where I will involuntarily click my mouse a couple of times only to find out I have just ordered the dvd… Well, if it helps any (in a “misery loves company” way), I just know that, despite all of the warnings above, I am at some point going to watch the movie. It’s like that time when I was a kid and my grandmother complained that the fish she had ordered in a restaurant was the worst thing she’d ever eaten and I just _had_ to try it to see how bad it was. (It was awful.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-apparently-theres-a-sequel-to-donnie-darko/503642/16 "2009-10-13T16:47:05Z")
Coming soon - _Donnie Darko 3: Electric Menacing Rabbit Boogaloo._