S. Darko

S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale
File:S. Darko.jpg Release poster
Directed by	Chris Fisher
Written by	Nathan Atkins
Produced by	Adam Fields
Starring	Daveigh Chase Elizabeth Berkley Ed Westwick Briana Evigan James Lafferty Jackson Rathbone Matthew Davis
Cinematography	Marvin V. Rush
Edited by	Kent Beyda
Music by	Ed Harcourt
Distributed by	20th Century Fox Newmarket Films
Release date	May 12, 2009
Running time	103
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	US$ 4 million

S. Darko: A Donnie Darko Tale is an upcoming 2009 sequel to Donnie Darko. It is directed by Chris Fisher. S. Darko follows Samantha Darko, the younger sister of Donnie, the protagonist of Donnie Darko, and her friend Corey. On their way to California, their car breaks down, forcing them to wait in a small town until it is fixed. While there, Samantha begins to have dreams that warn her of the end of the universe.

S. Darko is set to be released straight to video on DVD and Blu-ray on May 12, 2009.

Plot

Samantha Darko (Daveigh Chase) follows her rebellious best friend Corey Richardson (Briana Evigan) on a cross-country road trip from Virginia to California in an attempt to become a professional dancer. Their dreams are cut short when their water pump blows outside of Conejo Springs, a tiny Utah town. Unable to leave until their car is fixed, Sam and Corey are stranded with the locals. They are less than thrilled at the delay, and when an unexplained meteorite crash-lands in town that night, it soon becomes clear that there is much more at play than just a chance breakdown.

Plagued by bizarre hallucinatory dreams warning her of the universe's imminent end, as well as grief over her own loss of family, Sam must face the demons she had fled back at home. Aided by the unlikely town locals, Sam learns the true meaning of family and friendship, and tries to save what really matters.

Cast

• Daveigh Chase as Samantha Darko
• Elizabeth Berkley as Trudy Potter
• Ed Westwick as Randy Holt
• Briana Evigan as Corey
• James Lafferty as Iraq Jack
• Jackson Rathbone as Jeremy
• Matthew Davis as Pastor John Mellit
• John Hawkes as Phil
• Kristen Hillier as Local Girl / Bank Patron
• Zulay Henao as Baelyn
• Bret Roberts as Officer O' Dell
• Bob Lanoue as F.B.I. Agent
• Ryan Moat as Elder Moat / BBQ Missionary
• Savannah Ostler as Barfing Girl / Waitress

Production

Donnie Darko's writer and director, Richard Kelly, did not reprise his role as the director or writer of S. Darko. He stated "To set the record straight, here's a few facts I'd like to share with you all -- I haven't read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved." Chris Fisher, director of S. Darko, noted that he was an admirer of Kelly's film, and that he hoped "to create a similar world of blurred fantasy and reality."

Filming for S. Darko began on May 18, 2008. The crew used the high resolution digital Red One cameras. Musician Ed Harcourt signed to provide the score for the film after he read the script and loved it. For inspiration he listened to electronic music like Clint Mansell's score for Requiem for a Dream, and he hopes his score will be both "surreal and psychedelic just like the movie."

Viral marketing campaign

To promote the movie a viral marketing campaign was launched consisting of three youtube videos. The first is footage from a surveillance camera showing a dumpster falling from the sky and crushing a kid. The second video is that of a conspiracy theorist expressing his beliefs that falling metallic objects that come from the sky, apparently without any rational explanation, that fall on human beings resulting in their death are "Artifacts" from parallel universes that accidentally made contact with our main universe and unless we do something to prevent this when the two universes meet again both of them will be catastrophically destroyed. Examples of such "Artifacts" are the jet engine that killed Donnie Darko, a manhole that decapitated a young girl, the aforementioned dumpster and a meteor shower over Utah that resulted in the death of a local man. The meteor shower is actually one of the main events that happen in the feature film. The third video is showing a young girl who comments on the theories of the conspirator. She accuses him of being a fraud and a hack, that stole his theories from Roberta Sparrow's book "The Philosophy of Time Travel".

External links

• Official website
• S. Darko at IMDb
• S. Darko at AllMovie