For a year and a half we have been patiently waiting for Richard Kelly's Cannes-maligned "new" film Southland Tales to come out of the post-production re-editing hell it has been residing in. Much of this has been Kelly trying to get money out of Sony to complete special effects shots and to bring the run time down from the previous Cannes-cut of 3 hours to something more trim. Now I'd certainly love to see the original sprawling cut of the film shown to a more than a few boos back in May 2006, but there is also the lesson of Donnie Darko: The Directors Cut. Clearly the longer, more 'explained' version of Kelly's pop-cult classic is the weaker of the two versions - in terms of editing, sound track selection and overall ambiguity (or lack thereof). Regardless, the 'short' version of Southland Tales with its odd cast (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean William Scott as well as some supporting players from Donnie Darko) and ambitious story is set to come out November 9th 2007.
"Set in the near future in Los Angeles, July 2008, the film is described as, "an epic story that takes place over the course of three days, culminating in a massive 4th of July celebration." It features, "Boxer Santaros (The Rock), an action star stricken with amnesia, Krysta Now (Gellar), an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Roland Taverner (Scott), a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy."
There is no trailer cut for the film yet (look for Mid-August for that) or info on how limited the release will be. Perhaps the directors July 27th appearance at San Diego's Comic-Con will shed some more light on things. Richard Kelly will be on hand to reveal and do some signing of the films new One-Sheet.
[Source: IndieWire and FirstShowing via Mad About Movies]
Jesus it's about time! Probably January or something here mind you. :/
I'm glad someone else out there thinks that the director's cut of "Donnie Darko" wasn't as good as the original film.
Sweet Jesus, finally. It's an appropriate birthday present, at least.