Empire spoke to Richard Kelly about his upcoming "Donnie Darko" Director's Cut, the thinking behind it and what's in store for fans when it's released in August.

First up, he confirmed that Newmarket came up with the idea of a second release of the film with an extended cut - "They knew how much additional footage there was and they gave me the autonomy to finish the film how I'd always intended to finish it. This in no way negates the first theatrical cut though, I'm not dismissing it in any way; it's just a way for me to expand my vision for the film and give a more thorough version of it. It's letting me complete the sequences we didn't have the money to complete and put in additional plot music that we'd always wanted to put into the film but couldn't afford"

What can we expect from the new material? "I kind of want to leave it as a surprise but I will say that this it will be worth the price of admission - it's not trying to cash-in on the fan-base, it's a wholly new theatrical experience. It will expand the meaning of the film and offer more clues and more solutions to the puzzle and create an additional layer of mystery for the audience. There really is a tremendous amount of new material - some of which will surprise even the most die-hard fans. One thing I am really excited about is the new sound. I was really unhappy with the mix that we had in the first cut. We never really had time to go in properly and design the sound. We can go back and really get it right this time. I'm very excited about the new sonic elements of the film".

The full transcript can be read here.

Thanks to 'James' & 'Brian'