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Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko is a true cult film. Having premiered at Sundance back in 2001, it was released to theatres via a small company called Newmarket Films, and given that it opened in the wake of 9/11, it came and went with nary a trace. In fact, the company came close to sending it direct-to-video, but in the end, Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, who had made Memento for the company, pushed them to give it a release. While it barely made any money in theaters, something interesting happened once it hit VHS/DVD - it started to sell - a lot. People would rent the movie, lured in by the intriguing cover art and the presence of Drew Barrymore and Jake Gyllenhaal (then best known for October Sky and Bubble Boy), and watch it over and over. Indeed, word began to spread through college campuses and online about this weird sci-fi flick set in the 80s, and a genuine cult sprang up around the film. The cult only intensified once Kely was able to go back and issue his director’s cut, although which version o
