Richard Kelly is a Bit Unstable with ‘Corpus Christi’

Donnie Darko helmer Richard Kelly is playing it a little safer with his next directorial effort. Variety is reporting that the writer/director is stepping away from his usual supernatural stomping grounds, where films like Southland Tales and The Box failed to find success, and will instead pen and helm the multi-faceted thriller Corpus Christi. Kelly will produce alongside his Darko Entertainment partner, Sean McKittrick, and Splat Pack member Eli Roth. Additional financiers are still being sought. Casting should be completed by March with shooting to begin this July.

Gist: The Texas-set story concerns a mentally unstable Iraq war veteran, who forges a strange friendship with his boss, a wealthy and politically ambitious owner of a supermarket chain.

Worth Noting: Kelly and McKittrick’s Darko Entertainment, which launched in 2007 thanks to financier Ted Hamm, is playing a large role in Lionsgate’s hotly anticipated adaptation of the literary mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

Do We Care?: While the departure from the metaphysical and straight-up weird stories of his previous efforts to a more traditional narrative may be a smart move from a business standpoint, I, like most Kelly fans are just waiting for a Donnie Darko sequel.