Cult,

Wake up Donnie! Modern Cult Classic Donnie Darko to restored & re-released on 4K

Thursday, December 15, 2016 Craig Grobler 0 Comments

Donnie Darko to restored & re-released on 4K
Donnie Darko to restored & re-released on 4K


Wish I could have gone back in time and got this post up sooner - as this week sees the 15th-anniversary re-release of director Richard Kelly's modern cult classic Donnie Darko.

I say modern cult classic as, well, not to labour the point, but there are precious few good cult films that can be found for our viewing pleasure (in proportion to the number of films released a year) and even fewer that have been made in the last 15 years and still even fewer hailing from the United States that have anything near Donnie Darko's cult status.

Perhaps unsurprising as increasingly film producers/studios test film concept to the nth degree before committing to finance to a potentially risky proposition - it is afterall Showbusiness and film marketeers have become more savvy and quick to label a film as "cult" when it doesn't have a wider demographic appeal.


So Donnie Darko is something of an enduring anomaly and a cult film, possibly the last American cult film, in the truest sense of the definition. I hasten to add I have as not yet seen Alejandro Jodorowsky's The Dance of Reality or completed Álex de la Iglesia's The Last Circus - both of which may well fit the bill, albe they not American.

Donnie Darko Frank
    Donnie Darko Frank [Enlarge]    
So I for one am super stoked that Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko is getting the attention it deserves on it's 15 anniversary - it's being restored, getting a super high definition 4K home re-release, a limited BFI theatre run which kicks off with the 4K Restoration Premiere and Q&A with writer-director Richard Kelly this Saturday 17th December, a special BFI Donnie Darko (Director’s Cut) and extended intro with Richard Kelly ;on Sunday 18th December ahead of it's general cinema release kick off next week from;Friday 23 December.

Donnie Darko 28:06:42:12
    Donnie Darko 28:06:42:12 [Enlarge]    
Donnie Darko seems to have aged well as watching the new trailer below, it seems to thrill and chill even more than it did on initial release.
DONNIE DARKO 15th Anniversary 4K Restoration will screen at the BFI from 17th December (with Special Director Q&A) and in cinemas nationwide from 23rd December


Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross
    Jake Gyllenhaal as the eponymous Donnie Darko Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross [Enlarge]    

Arrow Films is thrilled to announce that it will release the all-time indie cult classic DONNIE DARKO (2001) into UK cinemas to celebrate its 15th Anniversary with a 4K Restoration. The original theatrical version will have an exclusive run at the BFI from the 16th December followed by a nationwide release from the 23rd December 2016. The Director’s Cut which has been newly remastered will also be available for screenings. The release also coincides with the 25th Anniversary of film distributor Arrow Films.

I'm going to tell you a little story today...

     CLASSIC CULT FILM DONNIE DARKO RE-RELEASED 4K TRAILER - 17 DECEMBER 2016

Fifteen years before Stranger Things combined science-fiction, Spielberg-ian touches and 80s nostalgia to much acclaim, Writer/Director Richard Kelly set the template and the high-water mark with his debut feature, Donnie Darko. Initially beset with distribution problems, it would slowly find its audience and emerge as arguably the first cult classic of the new millennium.

Donnie is a troubled high school student: in therapy, prone to sleepwalking and in possession of an imaginary friend, a six-foot rabbit named Frank, who tells him the world is going to end in 28 days 06 hours 42 minutes and 12 seconds. During that time he will navigate teenage life, narrowly avoid death in the form of a falling jet engine, follow Frank s maladjusted instructions and try to maintain the space-time continuum.

Described by its director as The Catcher in the Rye as told by Philip K. Dick, Donnie Darko combines an eye-catching, eclectic cast pre-stardom Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, heartthrob Patrick Swayze, former child star Drew Barrymore, Oscar nominees Mary McDonnell and Katharine Ross, and television favourite Noah Wyle and an evocative soundtrack of 80s classics by Echo and the Bunnymen, Tears for Fears and Duran Duran. This brand-new 4K restoration, carried out exclusively for this release by Arrow Films, allows a modern classic to finally receive the treatment it deserves.


DONNIE DARKO NEW QUAD POSTER
    Donnie Darko New Quad Poster [Enlarge]    

     Slideshow: Donnie Darko 15th Anniversary  4K Restoration Stills    

The Establishing Shot: WAKE UP DONNIE! MODERN CULT FILM CLASSIC DONNIE DARKO TO BE RE-RELEASED & 4K RESTORED IN UK CINEMAS FROM 17 DECEMBER AT BFI AND 23 DECEMBER NATIONWIDE! THE ULTIMATE ALTERNATIVE XMAS!

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