Richard Kelly seals The Box: release date, the Arcade Fire score, more

Ever get the feeling that writer/director Richard Kelly is setting himself up to be the next Orson Welles in terms of tragedy—the defiant, ahead-of-his-time director versus the studios that never seem to get it? Think about it. Welles arguably never escaped his critically acclaimed debut, Citizen Kane, while he was alive, and Kelly can't seem to shake his first movie, 2001's Donnie Darko. Granted one was an Academy Award-winner, while the other gained a cult following after hitting DVD, but the idea remains the same. 

Southland Tales, Kelly's second film, went through several edits and delays, was met with mixed reviews at the Cannes Film Festival, did horribly at the box office and was the target of some harsh critical reception. (Roger Ebert, for instance, gave it one lonely star.) Now, his third film, The Box, starring Cameron Diaz, has also been delayed more than a couple times, prompting us to ask, "Can this guy ever catch a break?" But it appears we finally have some closure on the many questions surrounding this project, thanks to a MySpace blog from Kelly titled, "THE BOX - FAQ."

Let's go through some of the highlights, shall we? First off, it looks like we have yet another release date: Oct. 30, through Warner Bros. Being that it's a sci-fi/horror film, this should work better than previous release dates (because, duh, it's closer to Halloween). Also, despite Arcade Fire's past efforts to detach itself from the project, Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and Arcade Fire collaborator Owen Pallett recorded "more than 80 minutes of score for the film," according to Kelly. Makes you wonder why Butler made such a big deal about it in the first place.

The film itself was shot digitally and runs just under two hours including credits. Some of the bands sprinkled within the 1976 period piece are the Grateful Dead, Derek and the Dominos and the Marshall Tucker Band. Says Kelly, "This is my most personal film to date, and I'm very proud of how it turned out."

Related links:
News: Richard Kelly's new movie delayed until late 2009
News: Correction: Arcade Fire will not score Richard Kelly film
Richard Kelly on MySpace

Got news tips for Paste? E-mail news@pastemagazine.com.