Donnie Darko: 15 Interesting Facts You Might Not Know

Donnie Darko was released in 2001. This Science Fiction / Thriller movie is one of my favorite films of all time. Over the last 15 years this film has reached cult status, mostly because it was light years ahead of anything else that was released in its genre at that time. It’s timeless and has been described as a Modern Classic by many film critics.

Here are 15 Interesting Donnie Darko facts you might not know

1. Writer / Director Richard Kelly grew up in Midlothian, Virginia, which was the town used in the original script, but was later changed to Middlesex.

2. Many of the songs featured in the movie were substitutes. Producers were unable to secure rights to the original choices. The dance performance was performed to ‘West End Girls’ by the Pet Shop Boys but Duran Duran’s ‘Notorious’ replaced it in post-production.

3. The original poster art for the movie had an Arabic-style font. This was changed to a more common typeface for the video release because of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

4. Seth Devlin, the main bully in the movie, has a name that sounds like devil. There is a sticker inside his school locker that says “What would Satan do?”

5. Richard Kelly was slightly hesitant towards casting Maggie Gyllenhaal, but he did like the way she convincingly drank urine in the movie Cecil B. Demented. He settled on Maggie because he realized he wouldn’t have to work hard at creating a sibling rivalry between the real life siblings.

6. Donnie Darko was Seth Rogen’s film debut.

7. The film made just a little over $500,000 in its initial theatrical release in 2001. After word spread that there was a weird little sci-fi movie featuring Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze with an utterly confusing storyline that had viewers spending hours attempting to understand it, the film made more than $15 million in DVD sales.

8. Richard Kelly sought permission from the estate of Peyo, the Belgian creator of the diminutive blue creatures, to show a Smurf doll for Donnie and his friends to shoot at. On the same conference call, he was told that Donnie would also be allowed to talk about Smurf sex, because what had been written in the script was considered an accurate description.

9. In 2009, Daveigh Chase reprised her role as Donnie’s sister, Samantha Darko, in S. Darko—a poorly reviewed sequel that was made without Kelly’s involvement. In 2005, Kelly made it clear that he would never shoot a sequel to Donnie Darko because it would “destroy its integrity.”

10. Due to the extremely low budget of Donnie Darko, composer Michael Andrews had to play all the instruments in the score. He did manage to get his friend Gary Jules to sing the cover of “Mad World,” which turned out to be lucky for Jules as the song became a number 1 hit. It reached the top of the UK Charts in 2003.

11. The first edit of the film ran two hours and forty-five minutes. The Director’s Cut is very close to the version that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2001.

12. The original advertising material for Donnie Darko featured a crashing plane. Opening close to September 11 2001, naturally this was all pulled, resulting in the film tanking at the box office due to lack of advertising.

13. Donnie Darko was made on a budget of $4.5 million.

14. The film has inspired numerous discussions and interpretations over the years, solidifying its status as one of the greatest independent films of all time.

15. The character Grandma Death is based on a real person from Kelly’s hometown who would frequently check her mailbox.

Well, there you have it, 15 Facts about Donnie Darko. I trust that you’ve found these facts to be interesting.

Check out the trailer for Donnie Darko below:

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