One of the 21st century’s best sci-fi movies is getting a surprise sequel

In fact, there could be multiple sequels on the way, according to the classic film's writer-director.

Even better news for fans of the franchise: Kelly has also said the book sequel could lead to Donnie Darko sequel films

The original movie was released in 2001. Jake Gyllenhaal played the title character, a troubled teen living in an American suburb in 1988.

After inadvertently escaping a bizarre, fatal accident by sleepwalking, he has visions of Frank (James Duval), a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume. The stranger informs the teen that the world will end in 28 days.

Initially a box office disappointment, Donnie Darko's mind-bending sci-fi plot, its haunting portrait of teenage alienation, its terrific cast, and its iconic soundtrack helped it quickly develop a massive cult following.

Watch the trailer for Donnie Darko right here:

The movie was followed by a direct-to-DVD sequel in 2009 titled S. Darko. This focused on Donnie's sister, Samantha (with Daveigh Chase reprising her role from the original).

Made without Kelly's involvement, the spin-off was widely panned by critics and audiences.

The newly announced Donnie Darko novel sequel is called The Philosophy of Time Travel, the same title as a fictional book within the world of the original film.

Kelly's first project since 2009's underrated thriller movie The Box, the plot synopsis for The Philosophy of Time Travel reads:

"On October 4, 1988, a derelict jet engine falls from the sky over Los Cerritos, California, and crashes through the bedroom of 16-year-old Donnie Darko, killing him instantly. For his family, the tragedy should end there. It doesn't.

"Assembled entirely from recovered government transcripts, secretly recorded conversations, and early email correspondence, The Philosophy of Time Travel reconstructs the eighteen months that follow through the eyes of Donnie's mother, Rose Darko, as she and her husband Eddie, a senior CIA analyst, are drawn into a widening investigation that reaches from the Oval Office to the Mojave Desert.

"FBI surveillance teams, FAA officials, USC professors, and a mysterious circle of trackers and financiers all converge on the same impossible discovery: a strange 'celestial fluid,' a set of unexplained artefacts, and a forbidden book, Roberta Sparrow's own Philosophy of Time Travel, that appears to predict the exact circumstances of its own recovery.

"Set against a real backdrop of the late Reagan era, the novel expands the mythology of the original film; Tangent Universes, Living Receivers, the Manipulated, into a sustained conspiracy that questions whether Donnie's death was ever an accident at all, and whether 'gone' is the same as 'gone for good'.

"Written by Richard Kelly, creator of the film Donnie Darko, this is the authorised continuation of the story for longtime fans and new readers alike."

Speaking to Variety, Kelly also said he plans to use the 600-page epistolary novel as a jumping-off point to make multiple sequel movies to Donnie Darko, which would be based on "more narrative material" he has been developing.

The writer-director told the outlet that his goal is to have The Philosophy of Time Travel eventually adapted into an animated/motion-capture movie. Then he would continue the story with a live-action film that jumps forward 28 years, where the original cast could reprise their original roles.

He said: "My caveat with doing a real sequel was that I want to reunite the original cast, and I want to take it onto a gigantic scale, and that takes time and it has a price tag, and it’s hard to pull this off because it’s multiple movies.

"It’s this big, gigantic, unwieldy thing that I have to sort of wrestle into submission. But in my mind, that’s what it should be. Just given the way this movie has connected with people for so long.

"So I’ve set out to just build the whole thing out and map the entire thing out, knowing that there’s a lot of challenges associated with doing that..."

Kelly also told Variety that he has not yet approached the Donnie Darko cast about reprising their roles for sequel movies. Instead, he wants the release of The Philosophy of Time Travel to serve as his pitch, adding: "Now it’s just sort of up for the marketplace to decide."

The Philosophy of Time Travel will be released on 15 December 2026.