As reported in Variety today, Newmarket Films plans to release a director's cut of Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko in theaters this summer.

Grossing a paltry $517,375 during its original theatrical release in late 2001-early 2002, just as the country was reeling from the attacks of 9/11, the film subsequently gained a sizeable cult audience playing midnights continuously at theaters around the country, despite having been released on DVD by 20th Century Fox, which reported sales of close to 1 million units.

The new cut, which will include 21 minutes of footage not in the original, premieres May 29 at the Seattle International Film Festival, after which Newmarket plans to release the film on up to 10 screens in that city as a test run for a wider national release.

"I want to see if we can play it in the malls and multiplexes," Newmarket's Bob Berney is quoted as saying, adding that the company (now flush with cash from Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ) plans a P&A campaign for Donnie Darko commensurate with a big-budget release.

"The re-release [of Donnie Darko]," says producer Adam Fields in Variety, "is a testament to the power of the homevideo and DVD market. We don't get many do-overs in life. But this was such a special and unique movie. It wasn't around long enough for people to find out what it was."

# posted by Steve Gallagher @ 4/21/2004 10:06:00 AM