A sequel to the cult fantasy sci-fi classic Donnie Darko is being made (watch the first trailer below). Titled S. Darko, the sequel picks up seven years after the death of Donnie, with the youngest Darko, 18 year old Samantha, and her best friend Corey, being plagued by bizarre visions while on a road trip to Los Angeles. I'm guessing the visions will feature a giant rabbit with floppy ears. Daveigh Chase reprises her role as Samantha Darko.

IGN Movies reports that the original director, Richard Kelly, is not happy.

"To set the record straight, here are a few facts I'd like to share with you all. I haven't read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved.

He went on to say that he had "no control over the rights from our original film, and neither I, nor my producing partner Sean McKittrick stand to make any money from this film."

This must be an awful experience for a director. You create a popular movie, loved by many, and then have absolutely no control over a sequel, nor do you stand to make any money from it either. What are you to do except grit your teeth and publically broadcast the fact that you have no connection with it?

According to Screen Daily, Chris Fischer (most famous for Nightstalker) will direct instead. Fisher said in a statement, "I am a great admirer of Richard Kelly's film and hope to create a similar world of blurred fantasy and reality."

If he was a great admirer of his work, you would think he might have obtained approval or at the very least consulted the original director before he started?

In the original movie, Donnie Darko, a paranoid schizophrenic, anti-social teenager, medicated and in therapy, narrowly escapes death when a jet-engine crashes into his bedroom. He survives by following a giant bunny called Frank outside. Frank tells him that the world will end in 28 days and instructs him to engage in a series of violent acts, such as vandalising his high-school, and burning down the house of a hypocritical evangelist, Jim Cunningham. There's a time travel twist, a love story, and some poignant social satire. If you haven't watched the original, go out and rent or buy it now.

Apart from making more money, I can see little reason for a follow up. It would be like making a sequel to James Cameron's Titanic; there’s little if any artistic merit and a fair possibility that you'll dilute the stature of the original (guilt by association) when it fails miserably. But when has that ever stopped Hollywood?

Slashfilm recently reported that S. Darko will not be getting a theatrical release, but will instead go direct-to-DVD. MGM home entertainment will release S. Darko on 28 April 2009.