We didn’t expect the box office record breaking ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ to take this long to get a sequel. Actually, Weinstein Co., the original production company, made the announcement at the end of 2004, but nothing came out of it. Now Overture Films and Paramount Vantage have picked up the rights to what is currently called ‘Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2.’

The original $6 million ‘Fahrenheit 9/11′ was wildly popular for a documentary, making over $220 million worldwide. But the sequel won’t be a sequel in the traditional sense. “This is going to tackle what’s going on in the world, and America’s place in it,” Vantage chief Nick Meyer said. “Fahrenheit 9/11 was really about one event — what led up it and what the consequences were. This is much broader,” Danny Rosett of Overture Films said.

Michael Moore’s new movie is expected to hit theaters in the second half of 2009.

Cory Edwards, who is currently working on ‘Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil,’ will be directing a ‘Fraggle Rock’ musical feature for TWC. Weinstein Co. has been pushing TWC to make more family orientated movies. “One of our main priorities when we first launched the Weinstein Company was to feature a broad range of family-friendly franchises like Fraggle Rock,” Weinstein said. The picture will again focus on the main characters’ interaction with humans, who they think are all aliens.

Director Cory Edwards debuted strongly with ‘Hoodwinked!’ in 2006. The animation not nearly had the high standards of a studio like Pixar or DreamWorks, but it made over $50 million in the US with a budget of just $15 million. For the sequel ‘Hoodwinked 2: Hood vs. Evil,’ Harvey Weinstein said to have doubled the budget to $30 million, still fairly low compared to its competition.

This is the first time I heard about a sequel to ‘Donnie Darko.’ It’s interesting, but when was the last time a sequel to a cult hit really impressed? The only cast member to return seems to be Daviegh Chase, Donnie’s little sister, at the moment.

The $10 million ‘S. Darko’ starts shooting May 18. It takes place seven years after the original, when Samantha Darko and her friend take a road trip and get strange visions during the trip. A short description, but it sounds like the usual cash in.

The original $4.5 million ‘Donnie Darko’ was a flop at the box office, but it made up in rentals when it became a cult hit. After grossing just a little over a million worldwide, it was able to make $14 million in rentals the first three years. After which director Richard Kelly released a new directors cut DVD with all sorts of extras.