Linklater's 'Merrily We Roll Along' Targets 2040 Finish
Richard Linklater says his Sondheim musical adaptation, shot over 20 years with Paul Mescal and Ben Platt, will wrap around 2040.
Richard Linklater has offered a progress report on his long-gestating adaptation of Merrily We Roll Along, telling the Zurich Film Festival that the production is filming nine sections over 20 years and that the fourth section will be shot in a few months.
The film, based on Stephen Sondheim's 1981 musical, follows the same real-time aging experiment Linklater used on Boyhood. Its cast, including Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein, will age on screen across the two-decade shoot.
Linklater said he expects the movie to be completed around 2040. The source material, itself adapted from the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, follows composer Franklin Shepard, who abandons his friends and career to become a Hollywood producer, with the story unfolding in reverse chronological order.
The director was in Zurich to receive the festival's Golden Eye career achievement award. The 22nd Zurich Film Festival runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4.
Quick answers
When will Richard Linklater's Merrily We Roll Along be finished?
Linklater said he expects the film to be completed around 2040.
Who stars in Merrily We Roll Along?
The cast includes Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein.
How is Merrily We Roll Along being filmed?
It is being shot over a 20-year period in nine sections, with the cast aging in real time, similar to Linklater's Boyhood.