Donnie Darko producer Adam Fields shares behind-the-scenes stories from the set of Richard Kelly's debut film. Every year, new generations of young people discover 2001's Donnie Darko, a journey of angst, responsibility, and self-discovery, as told through the esoteric misadventures of Jake Gyllenhaal and the mysterious Frank the Rabbit. Written and directed by Richard Kelly, Donnie Darko was not a box office success in its original release. Worldwide, the film only managed to rake in $2.9 million, a far cry from its $4.5 million budget. Nevertheless, the film quickly found an audience on home video and became a huge hit in the early days of Netflix, leading to the Donnie Darko Director's Cut in 2004. Subsequent years brought multiple home video releases, culminating in a new 4K Blu-ray edition, with image quality restored from the original camera negatives.
If the writer/director is seen as in charge of any given movie, the producer is "the man behind the man," so to speak. In the case of Donnie Darko, Adam Fields filled that role. Prior to Donnie Darko, Fields had produced films like 1985's Vision Quest and 1989's Great Balls of Fire, as well as cult 90s films Ravenous and Brokedown Palace. In terms of cinematic collaboration, Adam Fields saw the same teenage relatability in Kelly as he did in John Hughes; Fields championed Hughes as a first-time director on Sixteen Candles and its follow-up, The Breakfast Club, and he similarly believed in Richard Kelly's ability to write and direct a movie featuring authentic representations of teenage experiences. Thus, he took a chance on the young auteur, who only had film school shorts to his name, and entrusted him with the freedom to make a movie out of a script Fields himself admits he didn't fully understand. It was a leap of faith, and one that paid off in the long run... At least in terms of critical acclaim. Financially, Donnie Darko has never officially turned a profit, and is said to have lost more than it cost. This creative accounting is "The real Hollywood magic," as Fields describes it.
To mark the 20th anniversary of Donnie Darko, Arrow Films is releasing a 4K Blu-ray edition of the film. The set includes both the theatrical and director's cut, both presented in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR. This new release features a 100-page book, a double-sided poster, three audio commentary tracks across the two versions of the film, and hours of additional special features that dive into the stories behind the making of the film and its provocative themes. Screen Rant had the opportunity to talk at length with Adam Fields about his work on Donnie Darko, both in getting the project off the ground, and then trying to sell the completed film at Sundance and beyond. Donnie Darko's road to cult status was not a straight shot, and Fields' insight offers a fascinating look at the behind-the-scenes job of a producer in making sure a movie gets made, and – just as importantly – gets seen. Fields also discusses the aftermath of Darko's cult status, his non-role in S. Darko, and the potential future of the franchise via a potential television series.
The new, 20th anniversary 4K restoration of Donnie Darko releases April 27.
I just, today, re-watched Donnie Darko, I rented it on Amazon.
How does it hold up?
Oh, man. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, so there was a lot I didn't remember.
Did you notice Seth Rogen in it?
I did! With his little chin beard!
I think it was his first feature role. I think he had been in Freaks and Geeks already, but it was certainly his feature debut. And how appropriate that he's getting high? (Laughs)
Let's go back to the beginning. How does this script come across your desk? Were you seek out a young up-and-coming filmmaker? How does Donnie Darko get your attention?
The script came to me, literally as a writing sample. I ran into the agent who was representing it over Christmas break, at the gym. And he said, "Hey, I've got something cool I want you to read." I think they had given up trying to get it made. This was before we had PDF files; you had to get an actual hard copy of the script. My copy had mustard stains on it! (Laughs) I read it, and didn't completely understand it. I don't know that I completely understand it now. But I thought it had a compelling voice and interesting dialogue. It felt like a peek into a generation younger than mine. The scene where they're talking about The Smurfs... I didn't know much about The Smurfs! But it reminded me very much, and people will go "Yeah yeah yeah, whatever," but it reminded me of when I worked with John Hughes on Sixteen Candles, for which I had championed him at Universal for his directorial debut.
You thought Richard Kelly had that same quality about him?
Well, when I worked with John, he was certainly more established than Richard when I met him. John had already written Mr. Mom and National Lampoon's Vacation. I didn't think of it like Richard was going to be the next John Hughes, but he certainly had the potential to be his own unique version of that, to be Richard Kelly. I remember being on the set, listening to John talk to Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall, and he had this wonderful ability to enter their world and talk to them like he was their age. I didn’t always understand what he was saying sometimes, but they completely got it.
Richard wound up directing Donnie Darko, was that always part of the deal?
When I read the Donnie Darko script and thought it was interesting and definitely had a unique voice. I said, "I might be able to put this together," and that agent said, "also, the writer wants to direct it." Well, okay. I said, "Has he directed anything?" And he had a short film... But it wasn't finished. (Laughs) Richard came in to meet with me, and he was so articulate, convincing and passionate, I knew it would instill confidence in people that he could direct. That’s one of the key things you look for in a first-time director.
Now I'm interested in the John Hughes thing, because his movies were so authentic and still resonate with new generations, just like Donnie Darko.
In John Hughes movies, I believed there was probably a kernel of truth, something from his childhood that was the inspiration for those scripts. It seemed like maybe he was some version of the Anthony Michael Hall characters in Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club. It's possible that his other movies, like Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Vacation, were inspired by some kernel of an event or incident with his dad. Whatever inspired him, it certainly seemed to have come from some real place or experience.
It's from the heart, so everyone can relate.
What was interesting about The Breakfast Club was, the original film John shot was much broader and much more comedic than the final version. The finished version is very emotional and dramatic, and also funny. Universal, where we made the film, had the brilliant editor, Verna Fields, under contract. She had helped George Lucas with American Graffiti, and Sugarland Express with Steven Spielberg, who then hired her to cut Jaws, for which she won an Oscar. She was great at taking these young filmmakers under her wing and helping them shape their films. They called her "The Mother Editor" at Universal. She took that motherly approach with John, too, and he really respected her; she was just that good. She helped him shape it into the final version, which has a wonderful balance between drama and humor. I can't think of another film that laid it out so real but was also a comedy. That was the brilliance of what John had done. Not to take anything away from John, but Verna really was one of the great unsung heroes of that film.
Even though it's super different, Darko is just as believable, its characters are just as real.
Yes. With Richard on Darko, the script has all these things that were all presumably part of the years when he went to high school in I believe Virginia. There are always bullies and cute girls, the cool crowd, the jocks, the nerds and all of that. I think that’s the ubiquitous high school experience for everyone. Along with the music, it just really captured it. Everyone has teenage angst. Probably now more than ever! I’m sure almost everyone had some version of that guy who came in to do some self help lecture, like that Patrick Swayze character. I probably cut school that day!
Me too.
That setting, it feels so real. It just felt like a place you could relate to, like Mayberry from The Andy Griffith Show or that Twilight Zone episode, The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street. It was his town. Richard Kelly was so connected to the material, and he could articulate it in a way that was convincing. When you're trying to get people to give you money to make a movie, especially for a first-time director, you have to make them feel comfortable, like you're in control, like you know what you're doing. And he convinced me.
How did you get the ball rolling? Was it casting?
I originally got Jason Schwartzman to play Donnie. He had just done Rushmore, which I thought was cool and hip, and he seemed like the perfect guy. Based on Schwartzman, I planted an article in the trades that I was making this movie, Donnie Darko, with a great first-time director, and starring Jason. I just made up a date, like seven months out, and said we were starting production on that date.
Sleight of hand. Movie magic.
Suddenly, my phone started ringing, people going, "Hey, why didn't I know about this movie? I just got dressed down at the staff meeting for not covering this movie, why didn't you tell me?" And I said, "You never called me back." The movie was suddenly "real," so it started gaining momentum. If it's in the trade papers, it must be real! "Oh s***, there's jobs here! We need to cast this movie, we need to put our clients in it!”
And you got some great names. Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, Noah Wyle, and Mary McDonnell, who is just one of the all-time greats.
None of them were in yet! But the project was picking up speed. And as you may know, Jason's uncle is Francis Ford Coppola. He had a deal at that time to make a number of low-budget movies for United Artists. And Jason goes, "Hey, let's see my uncle, maybe we can help get this made!" And I'm like, "I get to meet Francis Ford Coppola? Great! Let's do it!" I've watched The Godfather, Godfather 2 more than any other movie ever, and Apocalypse, The Conversation, and The Rain People... C'mon, it's Coppola!
So you're clearly hyped for this meeting!
Hell Yeah! Richard and I go with Jason to see him. I couldn't be more excited. Into the room comes Coppola, in Bermuda shorts and flip flops, and Jason says, "Uncle Francie, I want you to meet Adam Fields and Richard Kelly." And I literally said to him, "Mr. Coppola, I’ve always dreamed about meeting one day, but of all the ways I've thought about addressing you, Lord Coppola, or Sir Coppola, or Mr. Coppola... 'Uncle Francie' wasn't anywhere on the list."
So, how did Uncle Francie feel about Donnie Darko?
He had read the script and he turned to some scene in the script, I don't remember which scene... But he pointed to one passage and he went, "This is the essence of your movie. This, right here, is what the movie is about." And then there was a moment where Richard maybe didn't quite agree. I'm not sure, it was really just a quick moment, and I was probably still thinking about "Uncle Francie" and looking at his Bermuda shorts. Next thing I know, maybe a day or two later, Jason dropped out of the movie.
What was it, some kind of secret test you failed? Some kind of subconscious disagreement where they knew the movie just wasn't destined to come about this way?
No idea.
It just wasn't meant to be. So, I knew Jason was attached, but was there anyone else before Jake? I'd read online a couple of names like Vince Vaughn and Mark Wahlberg... Was that ever real?
Not that I was ever aware of. Seems like they would have been too old for the part even then, but you never know what conversations are going on between agents and others behind the scenes on a film. Schwartzman was the first choice, he was in the announcement to the trades. And he's who I started raising money on. The second one in was Jena Malone. She was a name because of Bastard Out of Carolina, Contact, and Stepmom.
Yeah, she won a lot of awards when she was very young.
Between her name and Jason's, I was able to start raising money. People started coming on and I was announcing each person in the trades and suddenly it was, "Oh this sounds really cool I want to be in this too!" The Drew Barrymore part was written for an older teacher who was about to get tenure and retire. Her dilemma was, "if I support this, I could lose my tenure." And then when Drew got hold of it and wanted to be in it, Richard changed it to a younger and newer teacher.
That "go back to grad school" line makes me clench my fist!
Richard said, "I'll just make her younger!" And Drew's name helped us raise even more money. I think Richard was very keen on Katherine Ross, and I had a crush on her ever since The Stepford Wives from 1975. Then Noah Wyle jumped in and he was a big name off of ER. Mary McDonnell's agent pushed her forward and that was a great get.. But the Jim Cunningham part was a big part, and we met with a number of people, one was David Hasselhoff who was huge because of Baywatch. It was the weirdest meeting, because he kept talking about himself in the third person.
(Laughs) Oh no.
And he said stuff like, "David Hasselhoff would never do this, but he would do that." And I'm thinking, "Okay, when I see him, I'll let him know!"
So it became clear that casting him might be more hassle than it's worth, no pun intended.
It was just a really weird meeting. You and I have talked before so you know I was no stranger to weird meetings between Jerry Lee Lewis and the like... But then we had a meeting with Patrick Swayze, and he was so great. He just seemed like the right choice. But the Hasselhoff meeting was so weird. I was like, he's talking about himself like he's not here!
So what happened after Jason dropped out. Was there a panic?
When Schwartzman dropped out, I already had raised a lot of the money. So it was, like, "Oh s***," but it wasn't a disaster. I said, "We'll figure it out, we'll keep it quiet, and we'll find someone else.” Things like this happen on films all the time. It's part of the job of a producer to turn adversity into opportunities and be nimble and be ready to pivot. So, we got Jake, and look how great that turned out!
Was Jake at the top of the list?
I don't remember.
I don't suppose you had Maggie already, did you?
No, not at all. I think that was actually Jake's idea. I think he gave her the script to read. But when we got Jake, we were off and running. And Drew's name, I think, got us an extra million dollars. I was able to get a number of the crew that had just worked on Brokedown Palace for me to work on the film on the cheap as a favor. April Ferry, the great costume designer, and other people. Thomas Newton Sigel, who shot Brokedown Palace, was going to shoot it, but he had to drop out to do X-Men. But we got Steve Poster, who did an amazing job. So it all worked out.
So your total budget was $4.5 million, right?
About that, it's is amazing, because the movie, according to the most recent statement, has now lost over $6 million dollars.
What happened to the movie once it was basically done and ready to get shopped around?
Donnie Darko got accepted at Sundance as the opening, premiere movie, which I thought was actually a terrible mistake for us to accept. Back then, you never wanted to go first unless you were so darn sure about your film. I’ve been going to Sundance every year since the second year, except for the one year I had my daughter in January – I’ve still not forgiven her for her birth timing – and this year, because of Covid. So I was very familiar about how things tended to work there. But when they’re being offered the world premiere as the opening film of the festival... It's hard to turn that down.
Why don't studios bite on opening day? Is it because they are holding on to their biggest checks to see what else is over the horizon?
It's a little bit of that. It's certainly changed now, in the world of Netflix, Amazon and Apple offering almost blank checks. My feeling about it back then was, all the indie distributors that would come there... and all the studios that were setting up their own Searchlight art house divisions to compete with Miramax, who were the king of Sundance and independent films. So for these smaller indie distribution companies and art house divisions, Sundance probably represented 50% of their budget and annual business. They'd make their grids of every film, every party, and they'd go with their team, rent the big house and span out to try and see every film, go to every party and event. So they don't want to come back empty handed. Look, the reality is, a lot of independent movies just aren't very good. So by the fourth day of Sundance, you've seen a lot of bad movies; and suddenly those bad movies start looking a lot better, especially if you haven't bought something yet. If memory serves, there was the threat of a possible SAG strike. So there was concern that there might be a shortage of movies for the coming year. I remember that premiere, everybody who was a big buyer was there. I can't think of any company capable of writing a big check who wasn't represented. Studio heads who rarely personally came to Sundance showed up. Everyone was there.
So, everyone's there and you've got this cool movie, and they all see it. What happened?
No one offered a dime.
Why?
I think the running time was something around two and a half hours, which is just WAY too long. We never should have shot a movie that long, and we definitely shouldn’t have premiered a movie that long. It just didn't play well. You just know it. I've been to enough bad previews of other movies of mine to know when you are dying with the audience... Nobody bid. Maybe in retrospect we needed a Verna Fields! I never really thought about that until just now. You got me thinking about how Breakfast Club evolved. Maybe Verna or someone like her was the secret sauce we were missing. Had the version been the 1:54 final version, maybe things would have played out differently. But hindsight is 20-20, so who knows? The best offer we got, sometime later, I think HBO offered a million dollars for an HBO World Premiere.
Always a respectable place for any movie to land.
I thought, maybe we should take it. More people would see it on HBO then a limited theatrical art house release. But Richard’s agent said, "No. he promised his parents that his first picture would open in theaters." So I said, "Okay, tell me where his parents live. I'll rent out the local theater, we'll get Klieg lights, I'll get a red carpet, we'll have a premiere, and then we'll sell to HBO. How's that?
But he didn't bite.
Nope! So it sat for a long time. Richard re-cut it, and there was a small indie company, Newmarket, that had some heat because they released Memento. They offered to pick it up, and we opened in 58 theaters in I think 5 markets and we grossed $110,000 the first weekend . The second weekend we lost half the theaters and we grossed $58,000. The third weekend we were down to 17 theaters and that was the end of it.
It bombed.
At that point, honestly, I was just so despondent about it. Everyone was pointing fingers, it was just a bummer.
So how did it become so popular?
My understanding is, it became the largest film in the history of Netflix relative to its size at the time. Netflix was this new thing, and people didn't really know that much about it. I think people, especially young people, were discovering Netflix, and were discovering this movie through that. So it was like their secret. And we made more money in the UK theatrical release, too.
And that led to the director's cut?
Yeah. Three years later. The movie was building momentum and had this online cult following.
And home video versions have cool special features that are kind of integral to the movie. It was so far out and prone to rewatching, it was a great testing bed for high-concept DVD extras and expanding the universe and stuff.
As far as I'm aware, there has never been an independent movie, or maybe any movie, in the history of the business, that has had so many re-releases, a director's cut, a 15th anniversary release, and now the new 4K 20th Anniversary version. It's incredible. Almost every day, there's always new stuff about Darko online. I have a Google Alert for all my films, and every morning I wake up and there's some new blog or article about it. Like "20 Things You Didn't Know About Darko," and I look at all of them and I go, “ Nope, I didn't know that either.” Like, why did Grandma Death do this or that? And it’s really because we ran out of light, or we only had that actor for a limited amount of time... But people have created all kinds of theories!
The ultimate validation for a cult movie is a sequel, and boy oh boy... We got a sequel.
Ugh, I was hoping you wouldn't bring that up! (Laughs) The company that financed the movie, I guess they went bankrupt and sold their catalogue to a New York private equity fund, who just wanted to monetize it and had no real concern for the legacy or quality of the film. It was just about the money. I had nothing to do with it, Richard had nothing to do with it, but they paid Richard, they paid me, and the deal was, if I took my name off it, I would lose the rights to participate in any subsequent productions.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
They sent me a DVD of the finished picture, and I had until Monday to decide if I wanted to take my name off it. I watched it at home with my wife on a Sunday evening, and it was just awful. I said, "God, what do I do? I guess I should take my name off the movie. I already have the money. And she said, "Look, the premiere of the original didn't go very well, and look what happened. Maybe others will react differently. Do you really want to give up the rights to be involved in any future version of this? I don't think you can afford to do that."
Yeah, and what if that happens when your daughter asks for her first car?
Or more like private school tuition!
I haven't seen S. Darko.
It sucks. There's no two ways about it. Look at the cult phenomenon that it is now, and how potentially valuable these sequel and series rights are. So I guess it was the right decision. No matter what I decided, it was still coming out.. But it was certainly painful.
The way I see it, bad sequels always get struck from the record when the series bounces back, and they become these bizarre curiosities for the fans, and there's value to that on a Friday night.
And now the series rights must be enormously valuable. It was the right decision.
I imagine, with Donnie Darko becoming such a cult sensation over the years, you are now just swimming, Scrooge McDuck style, in Donnie Darko's long-term profits. It wasn't a hit at first, but now it's made you tons of cash, no?
I wish! According to the most recent profit statement, it's lost more money than the movie cost.
How could that be?
I don't know. That's the real magic of "Hollywood Accounting." Especially because it wasn't like they spent so much money on marketing! It's really amazing that this $4.5 million movie that became the biggest movie on Netflix… And in the last 15 years there's never been a time when it's not on a cable station or a streaming platform. I think Fox Home Video sold three million units in the first few years. That's a lot of units for a movie that didn't perform in theaters. Then, they paid millions to extend those rights. Yet over the entire last 16 years, they've reported less than $150k in domestic revenue. Where did all that money go? Into the Darko wormhole?
Do you get a profit check in the mail that says, "Actually, you owe us money."
The irony is, I just got a profit check for S. Darko for $75! It ain't much, but the sequel, that was never released in theaters, cost almost the same as the original, and I've never seen it on any cable or streaming platform… And yet, that movie is somehow profitable, while the original, this cult phenomenon, has lost more money than it cost to make! These profit statements have a standard clause that they can charge interest on the budget until it's been recouped, which is fine, but each dollar that comes is supposed to reduce that amount. They've never applied any revenue to the cost of the movie, so the interest keeps growing every year. So now the interest is greater than the cost of the film.
And now I've gone cross-eyed.
Zeno's Paradox is that the Achilles can never catch the tortoise, because you could mathematically keep cutting the distance in half, but you're always some fraction away. He'll never actually catch him. That's how the accounting is on this.
And it's by design.
It's a choice, Some places do, some don't. I'm really glad they're doing the new 4K version, so new fans can see it at the highest possible quality, but it would be great if just a few dollars trickled down to the people who made the movie. When you just rented it on Amazon, I'm sure someone got paid.
That's crazy, man. But there's gotta be a little comfort in just how beloved the movie still is, right?
One of the greatest epiphany moments for me came when my daughter was in middle school. This was probably in 2008-ish. On Halloween, all the kids wear their costumes to school, and the parents come at lunch to look at all the kids in their costumes and go, "Aren't they all so cute? Look, there's Ariel from Little Mermaid!" But there were two kids dressed as the rabbit from Darko. And I'm thinking, wait a minute... These are ten-year-old kids who are now hip to Darko? Wow.
That's gotta be worth more than a profit check... Well, from this side of our phone call. (Laughs)
It was great. My daughter went, "Look daddy, that kid is dressed as the rabbit from your scary rabbit movie!” And then there's the Aero theater where we shot the scene where they're watching Evil Dead, this cool little theater in Santa Monica. My mom lives in Santa Monica, and I usually go see her on Sundays. And I'm driving back one evening, and I see a large crowd in front of the theater, and I see it's playing a double feature: Donnie Darko and Evil Dead.There was a guy there dressed as a big rabbit. So I ask the manager what’s going on, and he goes, "We're doing a whole Darko thing because it's Easter and it's a bunny rabbit movie." I think that's hysterical, to see Darko as an Easter bunny rabbit movie.
Hey, any excuse to see it on a big screen, I'm here for it! I'm sure some clueless video rental store had Donnie Darko in the kids' section because it's a bunny rabbit movie.
I thought that was really funny.
So, since you went through all the trouble of holding on to the rights, are there any plans for more Darko adventures?
I've been reading a lot of articles about how "Stranger Things is the Donnie Darko of television." And I"m thinking, hmm, maybe I should just do Donnie Darko as a series.
Is that on the table?
We're definitely talking about doing a series.
I had heard that Richard bounced around a few ideas over the years... Could you imagine doing it without him?
No. I don't think I would want to do it without him. If we are going to do it, it needs to be great and the best possible show it can be. The expectations will be really high. I think you have to look at it through the lens of, "It's 20 years later." It needs a fresh perspective. The original actors have all grown up. I think it's about finding a way to do Darko in a contemporary world. Maybe the one connective tissue is the rabbit. The rabbit is ageless, timeless.
But then how do you do it without being accused of throwing it in there, right?
I don't know... What if the rabbit came to visit another town and another community and picked another boy? I don't know. Donnie had 28 days to fix a lot of things.
Reboots and revivals are hot right now.
I get calls about it all the time, they're remaking everything. They're rebooting Friends and Sex and the City... Paramount is making a Flashdance series, they're redoing Fatal Attraction, Sony's redoing Jagged Edge. I'm making a new version of Look Who's Talking at Sony! Everything is getting rebooted. Partially because of the pandemic, we are experiencing the greatest boom in history of rebooting old IP. I just want to be protective about Darko and avoid another S. Darko debacle. Enough time has passed since S. Darko, so we can do it again. But if the next iteration is bad, you've killed it for at least another seven to ten years. Richard and I are the ones who are gonna get slammed; not some executive who will still collect their big pay check.
So, how would you want to do it?
I want to try and make sure it's done right, so I would want to be as hands-on as I can. Whatever happens, I need to feel good about the process. So, regardless of the outcome, I'll know I did the best I could. I've only got one Darko. Richard should be onboard. He's got more invested in Darko than anyone. It's got to work for him, it's got to work for me, and it's got to work for the broadcaster. So everything has to line up just right. Maybe it will happen, maybe it won’t. But first they should to do the right thing for all the participants who haven't been paid their fair due for the great work they did 20 years ago.
Do you think it will happen?
I don't know. I hope so, but I’ve waited this long; I can wait a little longer to make sure it's done right, versus risking another S Darko. Or, if not, maybe my daughter will have her own kids one day and they might go, "Hey mom, there's grandpa's scary rabbit movie... Wouldn’t that make a good TV series?"