Southland Tales: Richard Kelly hopes Dwayne Johnson returns for sequel

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko was a huge success, but Kelly's sophomore outing Southland Tales wasn't quite so lucky. "As the city stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental chaos," reads the official logline, "the fates of an eclectic set of characters – including an amnesia-stricken action star (Dwayne Johnson), an adult film star developing her own reality TV project (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and a police officer whose identity has split in two (Seann William Scott) – intertwine with each other and with the whole of humanity." Over the years, Southland Tales has developed a growing cult following, and Arrow Video will soon be releasing a 2K restoration of the film that includes the 145-minute theatrical cut as well as the 160-minute Cannes cut that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, but Kelly has said that he would love to be able to return to the world.

The director has previously discussed expanding Southland Tales with an longer cut of the story that places the existing film as merely the middle segment of a much bigger tale. "Yes. I've been working on a new screenplay," Kelly told Entertainment Weekly. "There were these three graphic novels that were published 15 years ago, when the movie came out. In the theatrical version of the film, there's animation that really alludes to the full six chapters and the events that happen prior to the movie. The existing movie is divided into chapters 4, 5, and 6. There is a chapter 1, 2, and 3. So, there is this prequel story leading up to the events of the film, which I hope to achieve using animation. Then, there's a whole new level to the story which is Boxer and Christa's screenplay, which they're discussing all through the film, and you see throughout the film, that actually takes place in the year 2024. So, there is an opportunity for us to explore the world of his screenplay and the significance of what's happening in his screenplay, and the additional reality of what that could mean." Should this Southland Tales sequel ever get off the ground, but he hopes that Dwayne Johnson would be able to return, although he's all too aware that Johnson is now a little out of his price range.

Yes, I realize that. [Laughs] That's a whole other discussion that I'm not able to completely address. But I would love more than anything to work with Dwayne again on this project and with all the actors. It's just a question of, is there a way to figure that out? I certainly hope so.

When Richard Kelly cast Dwayne Johnson in Southland Tales, the actor had a few movies under his belt, but was far from the superstar he is today, although Kelly knew he was destined for bigger things. "When I met wIth Dwayne, it was just an immediate connection," Kelly explained. "He was immediately excited and open and just completely eager to take all these risks and dive into playing this role. It was just this wonderful connection. Getting to sit across from him — I think this was the very beginning of 2005 when we met — I was just blown away by his charisma. I'd seen him in the wrestling ring and seen a few of his movies. It was so clear to me that he was on his way to becoming the biggest movie star in the world, that he had that potential, that he had that charisma. Looking at all his work, and looking at all his performances in the pro-wrestling ring, I could just tell he had this just incredible comedic timing. I just knew that he could do an incredible job." The Arrow Video blu-ray release of Southland Tales will drop on January 25th.