Richard Linklater Gives Update on Paul Mescal Movie That’s Taking Them 20 Years to Film

Richard Linklater gives an update on his 20-year-long cinematic project featuring Paul Mescal. The filming began in 2019 and still has a long way to go, according to the director. Moreover, the upcoming movie will run eight years longer than his previously acclaimed film, Boyhood, which took 12 years to complete.

In an interview with Zurich Film Festival CEO Christian Jungen, an audience member asked Linklater for an update on Merrily We Roll Along. The director said, “My progress report is it’s [shooting] nine sections in 20 years. And in a few months, we’re filming the fourth section. So see you in 2040.”

Moreover, Linklater added that filming Boyhood over 12 years did not require him to provide updates, as the movie was filmed discreetly. The director joked, “When I was doing Boyhood, we worked in complete anonymity. No one knew about the film. This one, on the other hand, because it’s a Stephen Sondheim musical and it’s very public, I have to answer this question for 20 years while we’re making it.”

In addition, the Boyhood director addressed fan assumptions about tempting fate. Referring to Boyhood, the director said, “It worked on Boyhood, […] and that’s just the way the film should be made, and that’s the only way to tell the story. And people were like, ‘Well, what if someone died?’ There’s always an extreme thing that would prevent it from being made. But I was like, ‘Well, that usually doesn’t happen,’ and you gotta believe in collaborating with the future of some kind.”

“So definitely got lucky [with Boyhood] and hoping to get lucky this time. But it’s been so fun so far. It’s very different. I have music already — it’s a great score. We’re adapting it step-by-step. I’ve always made music films. … But it’s fun to be making a full-on musical. But it’s about friendship, long-term,” Linklater continued, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Who else stars in Richard Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along movie?

Told in reverse-chronological order, the story centers on Franklin Shepard, a Broadway composer who abandons his art and his friends to become a wealthy and cynical Hollywood movie producer.

Merrily We Roll Along features Mescal as Franklin Shepard, Beanie Feldstein as Mary Flynn, and Ben Platt as Charley Kringas. Other members of the ensemble include Mallory Bechtel, Hannah Cruz, Boo Arnold, Leah Loftin, Werner Richmond, Jon Reneé, and Tristan Tierney.

Linklater’s Merrily We Roll Along is adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth, which itself was based on a 1934 stage play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Source: Comingsoon.net