Richard Kelly's Finished Screenplay Is A Semi-Futuristic Thriller Set In Manhattan, But Will It Be Next?

“Donnie Darko” director Richard Kelly has revealed details about his next possible project to /Film’s David Chen, following up a Twitter message that Kelly had written that said, “My new script is done – it’s just…expensive :).”

While the young director’s not 100% certain the ambitious picture is next — cost likely being a main issue — the screenplay itself is a thriller set in Manhattan that takes place in 2014.

Why so pricey? “Forty percent of it is motion capture,” Kelly said, additionally expressing love for recent Robert Zemeckis and James Cameron films, and the hi-tech tools they’re currently utilizing. There’s also a fifth film apparently in the works, but the only details he divulged were that it’s an “action film.”

What he doesn’t state, but seems implicit, is that he is still coming off the unmitigated disaster that was “Southland Tales,” and while his upcoming film, “The Box,” looks to be a more toned down affair — ridiculous ComicCon spoilers aside — there’s little to indicate the final result simply won’t simply amount to an extended “Twilight Zone” episode for a niche audience in spite of stars Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. In short, if he wants to make an expensive picture next, “The Box,” has to be wholehearted success.

The picture is based upon a short story by the great writer Richard Matheson entitled “Button, Button” and arrives in theaters October 30th, just in time for Halloween. Oooooh! – Lev Lewis