Sarah Michelle Gellar

Director Richard Kelly wrote in his online blog that he has locked the final cut of his upcoming apocalyptic SF movie Southland Tales at two hours and 17 minutes. That’s nearly half an hour shorter than the early cut that screened at the Cannes Film Festival, earning much derision in the process. "I am very happy with this edit, as we have done a significant amount of work to solve the Rubik’s Cube narrative," Kelly (Donnie Darko) wrote on Dec. 4. "Justin Timberlake just recorded the final voice-over this past Sunday. We still have some visual-effects work to do, ... but expect a release date and a trailer soon!"

Kelly recently completed the second of three prequel graphic novels, Southland Tales-Book II: Fingerprints, and said that the third volume will go to the printer this week. "I can’t believe it is almost over, ... and that we have made it to the end with our sanity intact," Kelly said. "Well, ... perhaps not completely intact."

Southland Tales, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Sarah Michelle Gellar, is set in near-future Los Angeles on the eve of an unnamed disaster.

Kelly added that he is prepping The Box, his next SF movie, which he hopes to begin shooting in March in Virginia.