Donnie Darko Trivia
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This Donnie Darko trivia quiz has 50 free questions with answers and covers Richard Kelly's 2001 cult classic from every angle: the plot (the jet engine, Frank's countdown, Grandma Death and The Philosophy of Time Travel, Jim Cunningham's dungeon, the Halloween party), the cast (Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze, a debuting Seth Rogen), and the making of it on a $4.5 million budget in 28 days. It also digs into the release story: the Sundance premiere, the post-9/11 marketing freeze that sank it at the box office, the midnight screenings that saved it, the UK revival, the Director's Cut, the Gary Jules 'Mad World' Christmas number one, and the sequel Kelly had nothing to do with. Some questions are easy for anyone who has seen it once; several are for people who own the book. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who wrote and directed Donnie Darko, his debut feature?
Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly wrote the script at 22, fresh out of USC film school, and later made Southland Tales and The Box.
Q 02In which month and year is Donnie Darko set?
October 1988
The film is set in October 1988, with the Bush-Dukakis election in the background; the story runs from October 2 to the early hours of October 30.
Q 03Donnie survives the accident at the start of the film because he was doing what?
Sleepwalking
Sleepwalking takes Donnie out to the golf course on the night of October 2, so he is not in his bedroom when wreckage crashes into it.
Q 04What falls onto the Darko house?
A jet engine
A jet engine, apparently from a plane that does not yet exist, smashes into Donnie's bedroom; that image was the seed of the whole script.
Q 05Frank appears to Donnie wearing what costume?
A rabbit
A rabbit suit with a grotesque metallic mask, worn by James Duval, makes Frank far more sinister than a storybook bunny.
Q 06Exactly how long does Frank say remains until the world ends?
28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds
Frank's countdown of 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds runs from the night of October 2 to the early hours of October 30, when the Tangent Universe collapses.
Q 07Who plays Elizabeth, the eldest Darko sibling?
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Elizabeth, the Darkos' college-bound eldest child, opposite her real-life brother Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie.
Q 08Donnie's girlfriend Gretchen Ross has moved to town under a new identity to escape whom?
A violent stepfather
A violent stepfather, who stabbed her mother, is why Gretchen and her mother live in town under new names; Jena Malone plays her.
Q 09The book The Philosophy of Time Travel was written by which character?
Roberta Sparrow
Roberta Sparrow, the old woman the local teens call Grandma Death, wrote the book; she is forever checking her empty mailbox.
Q 10Who gives Donnie the copy of The Philosophy of Time Travel?
Kenneth Monnitoff, who teaches science
Kenneth Monnitoff, who teaches science, hands Donnie the book after Donnie asks him about time travel; Noah Wyle plays him.
Q 11Patrick Swayze's Jim Cunningham is what?
A motivational speaker
A motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham sells a 'Fear versus Love' philosophy that gym teacher Kitty Farmer turns into classroom attitude lessons.
Q 12What do firefighters find in the burned remains of Cunningham's house?
A hoard of child pornography
A hoard of child pornography turns up in the ruins after Donnie, on Frank's instruction, burns the house down; Cunningham is arrested.
Q 13Kitty's decision to defend Cunningham means Rose Darko has to chaperone what?
The dance troupe's flight to Los Angeles
Q 21Which star's company, Flower Films, agreed to produce Donnie Darko?
Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore's Flower Films came aboard as producer, and Barrymore herself took the part of English teacher Karen Pomeroy.
Q 22What was Donnie Darko's production budget?
$4.5 million
The budget was $4.5 million, raised after Flower Films signed on in 2000 and Kelly held out for the right to direct the script himself.
Q 23Which actor was approached to play Donnie but insisted the character should have a lisp?
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg's lisp idea went nowhere; the role went to Jake Gyllenhaal, then best known for October Sky.
The dance troupe's flight to Los Angeles falls to Rose once Kitty pulls out; Sparkle Motion is going to compete on Star Search.
Q 14Sparkle Motion, the little sister's dance troupe, performs to which song?
'Notorious' by Duran Duran
'Notorious' by Duran Duran backs Sparkle Motion's sequined routine at the school talent show, intercut with Donnie burning down Cunningham's house.
Q 15Donnie's psychotherapist believes his visions of Frank are 'daylight hallucinations' symptomatic of what?
Paranoid schizophrenia
Paranoid schizophrenia is Dr. Thurman's diagnosis for the 'daylight hallucinations'; Katharine Ross plays the therapist, who also hypnotises Donnie.
Q 16The Halloween party at the Darko house celebrates Elizabeth's acceptance to which university?
Harvard
Harvard has just accepted Elizabeth; with their parents away, the siblings throw the party, and Gretchen and Donnie sleep together for the first time that night.
Q 17What is the real Frank's surname, revealed when he is unmasked as the driver?
Anderson
Frank Anderson is Elizabeth's boyfriend; he is driving the car that kills Gretchen, dressed in the same costume as the Frank of Donnie's visions.
Q 18Where does Donnie shoot Frank?
In the right eye
In the right eye: the wound explains the hollow, bleeding eye of the Frank in Donnie's visions. Donnie uses his father's gun and carries Gretchen's body home.
Q 19Where does Frank first take off his mask in front of Donnie?
At a movie theatre
At a movie theatre, during a screening of The Evil Dead, Gretchen falls asleep beside Donnie and Frank appears in the next seat and removes his mask.
Q 20Which actress plays Kitty Farmer, the gym teacher in Donnie Darko?
Beth Grant
Beth Grant plays Kitty Farmer, who champions Jim Cunningham, coaches Sparkle Motion and delivers the line 'Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion.'
Q 24Who plays Eddie Darko, Donnie's father?
Holmes Osborne
Holmes Osborne plays Eddie Darko, the family's wry father; Mary McDonnell plays his wife Rose.
Q 25Where did Donnie Darko premiere in January 2001?
Sundance Film Festival
Donnie Darko premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2001, where it drew praise but left distributors wary of its dark, hard-to-market story.
Q 26Why was Donnie Darko barely advertised for its October 2001 release?
Its ads showed a crashing plane weeks after 9/11
Its ads showed a crashing plane weeks after 9/11, so the distributor pulled back its marketing; the film took just $517,375 in its first US run.
Q 27Which New York cinema ran midnight screenings of Donnie Darko for more than two years?
Pioneer Theatre
The Pioneer Theatre in the East Village began the midnight screenings after the March 2002 video release and kept them going for more than two years, turning the flop into a cult hit.
Q 28What does Donnie leave buried in the head of the school's bronze mascot?
An axe
An axe is left in the skull of the school's bronze mascot on the night Donnie floods the building, beside the spray-painted words 'They made me do it'.
Q 29After reissues, roughly how much did Donnie Darko gross worldwide in cinemas?
$7.5 million
Including the 2004 Director's Cut reissue, the film grossed roughly $7.5 million worldwide in cinemas, a small sum against the cult following it built on video.
Q 30In which year was the Gary Jules and Michael Andrews cover of 'Mad World' the UK Christmas number one?
2003
The cover reached number one in December 2003 and stayed there for three weeks; Michael Andrews also composed the film's score.