Merrily We Roll Along (Richard Linklater, 2040)

[The Narrator Returns]

Richard Linklater is adaptating Merrily We Roll Along and shooting it over the course of twenty years

[soundchaser]

Interesting choice. I think it's a pretty underrated Sondheim, and the final number is an absolute heartbreaker. Guess I've got something to look forward to in 20 years.

[swo17]

Better shoot an alternate version with understudies in case anybody dies

[brundlefly]

Richard Linklater, our last optimist.

[Timec]

Well, that's... Unexpected.

I love the score, but I've yet to see an entirely satisfying production of the show. Perhaps the 20-year conceit can bring some added resonance to what feels a bit contrived on stage.

[Nasir007]

Scorsese, Fincher and Marvel looking at Linklater and thinking - noob.

[domino harvey]

Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad

[Roscoe]

I suspect satire. Or not. Looks like it's true. Was he serious? It's a pretty bad show, with some admittedly good songs in it.

[Timec]

My first thought when I read the headline was that it was some sort of parody.

Either way... Boyhood notwithstanding, I kind of doubt this film will ever actually be completed.

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Better shoot an alternate version with understudies in case anybody dies

Linklater himself would be pushing 80 by the time this is finished.

[mfunk9786]

After discussing with my Dad this weekend why he doesn't want to get another cat in place of one that just had to be put down (fear of being dead before the new cat), I greatly admire Linklater for having the existential stones to even get something like this going at his age. It sounds like something I wouldn't see if it took 20 minutes or 20 years to make, but hats off

[J Wilson]

I enjoyed Lonnie Price's recent documentary about the show more than the show itself, to be honest.

[tenia]

Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad

Isn't this quite a hyperbolic statement ? It's not as if Linklater is the first filmmaker to take a liking for specific concepts that recurringly appear in his movies, while the other way around would mean lots of sad filmmakers around.

[domino harvey]

No (I will complete the rest of my defense of this opinion over the next twenty years)

[MichaelB]

Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad

So the bulk of the great Czech documentarist Helena Třestíková’s work is “just sad”?

[HitchcockLang]

Was there this much advance notice about Boyhood existing? I recall becoming aware of that film's existence about the time the trailer rolled out.

[agnamaracs]

Since the story is done in flashback, it would be easier to film it in the last 20 years.

[knives]

Was there this much advance notice about Boyhood existing? I recall becoming aware of that film's existence about the time the trailer rolled out.

It had an IMDB page and was announced and what not a good nine years or so before it premiered at least.

[domino harvey]

Once is a novel gimmick, twice or more is just sad

So the bulk of the great Czech documentarist Helena Třestíková’s work is “just sad”?

Are you under the impression that this narrative musical adaptation is a documentary?

[swo17]

Wasn't Boyhood already Linklater's second time performing the gimmick?

[Glowingwabbit]

Wasn't Boyhood already Linklater's second time performing the gimmick?

I mean although it wasny planned ahead and its not a single film, The Before Trilogy is basically the same kind of thing. I'm not sure how its a gimmick when Linklater has spent most of his career on themes related to the passage of time.

[domino harvey]

Filming continuations following the same characters and releasing them as they’re individually shot is not the same thing, unless we’re ready to call the Ernest films a similarly multi-year epic

[Glowingwabbit]

Filming continuations following the same characters and releasing them as they’re individually shot is not the same thing, unless we’re ready to call the Ernest films a similarly multi-year epic

Linklater also shot Tape in real time which I guess could also be considered a gimmick. Does that mean hes never allowed to do that againl without being written off?

Edit: also if you've ever listened to him talk about doing the later films in the Before Trilogy his interests were very much the same.

[domino harvey]

Look, you all can love Linklater with all your heart and be excited for this film and still recognize he’s returning to the very specific and unusual well that brought him the most media attention / awards recognition precisely because it was a then-novel approach. This all reads like stumbling onto a Community message board where fans are arguing for the individual merit and integrity of the paintball sequel episodes

[swo17]

I mean, telling stories where characters age is incredibly common and the tools typically used to achieve this (makeup or CGI) have an unavoidable artifice about them. I find Linklater's drive to capture this authentically refreshing. It's only novel because it's so risky and logistically challenging.