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Yes, a Donnie Darko sequel book is on the way - but creator Richard Kelly says that's just the beginning

Kelly has penned The Philosophy of Time Travel, which takes place in the almost immediate aftermath of Donnie Darko's death. However, he says there are three decades' worth of storytelling planned after that

News by Grant DeArmitt, Staff Writer

Published on Thu Aug 27 2026

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It's official, emo kids: we're getting more Donnie Darko. The Philosophy of Time Travel, written by Donnie Darko creator Richard Kelly, will serve as an immediate sequel to the 2001 film, and will be published by Range Literary this year. But here's the really exciting bit - if Kelly gets his way, then this is only the beginning of more Donnie Darko storytelling to come.

Kelly recently sat down with Variety to discussion his vision for following up the cult classic, Jake Gyllenhaal-starring science fiction film. Explaining that he'd like to see this novel adapted as an animated project, Kelly then revealed he had plans for what would be another sequel after that.

"This book starts off in the 14 months after Donnie’s death," Kelly explained, "And then there is much more narrative material that I’ve been developing where the time jumps 28 years into the future, and there’s a lot of really exciting stuff that happens starting around 2015/2016 and onward after that, so that’s where I started with the sequel."

"This section of the sequel would be animation," he continued, "And then, in theory, should it happen, there would be a gigantic time jump of 28 years or so, and where the actors, should they want to play their roles live and in the flesh, that would be wonderful, too. So we’ll see what happens."

Hopefully what happens is a brand new generation of gothy weirdos, Richard. It was the best thing that came out of the first film, after all.

Donnie Darko is streaming now (for free!) on Tubi.

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Grant DeArmitt: Grant DeArmitt (he/him) likes horror, comics, and the unholy union of the two. In the past, and despite their better judgment, he has written for Nightmare on Film Street and Newsarama. He lives in Brooklyn with his partner, Kingsley, and corgi, Legs.