Southland Tales, which has long maintained a cult following, is getting a fond tribute as it nears its 20th anniversary.
Lou Taylor Pucci, who has a role in the film, offered his thoughts about the movie during a recent Reddit AMA. Southland Tales marked the second movie for director Richard Kelly — known for feature directorial debut Donnie Darko — while the ensemble cast included Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore and Justin Timberlake.
Pucci noted that Kelly is a “genius in his own way” but that the director seemed to expect it to make a bigger splash at the box office. “I thought Richard knew when he was making it that he was making a B-sci-fi cult classic, but it seems he and his producers didn’t think it’d bomb in the box office,” Pucci said. “They put a lot of [money] into it.”
The actor added, “So for them, it was very sad when it wasn’t well-received. But I think Richard’s view of a fascist America was quite prescient and worth a new viewing, if you all have time.”
While responding to a different question about the film, Pucci explained that the script had evolved significantly from the initial version that he received.
Dwayne Johnson in Southland Tales.
Courtesy of Everett Collection
“The first script I got didn’t have time travel — or two Sean William Scotts,” said Pucci, who is known for features like Evil Dead and for such series as Physical and Daredevil: Born Again. “The third one did. Nobody knew what was going on, but they all trusted Richard because of his success with Donnie Darko. They got The Rock and Sara Michelle Gellar in that movie, and literally all of us, because of [Donnie Darko].”
Southland Tales premiered at Cannes in 2006 before hitting theaters the following year. The dystopian feature is set in Los Angeles and centers on an action film star (Johnson) connecting with an adult actress (Gellar) amid the threat of nuclear attack. After getting booed at Cannes, it collected a mere $375,000 at the global box office.
For a piece timed to the film’s 10th anniversary, Kelly talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the divisive critical response. Southland Tales marked the director’s follow-up to Donnie Darko, the 2001 thriller that helped establish Jake Gyllenhaal’s career and made Kelly an in-demand filmmaker.
“Southland Tales was a really aggressive, provocative film, even for Cannes,” Kelly said. “I think a lot of people were just never going to accept the film for what it was.” The only feature that Kelly has since directed was 2009’s The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden.
For her part, Gellar told THR in 2023 about Southland Tales, “That movie was just batshit ambitious.” She also pointed out that she “fell asleep twice” during its Cannes premiere.
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