Richard Linklater Says ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Starts Filming Again in a ‘Few Months’ and Gives ‘Progress Report’ on 20-Year Production: ‘See You in 2040’

Richard Linklater doesn’t like to be asked about his upcoming take on “Merrily We Roll Along.” “When I was doing ‘Boyhood,’ we worked in complete anonymity. No one knew about the film. This one, because it’s a Stephen Sondheim musical, is very public.

I will have to answer this question for 20 years while we are making it,” he said at Zurich Film Festival. Its stage version, starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, won four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. Linklater is working with Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt, and will be filming for many years, mirroring its decades-spanning storyline.

So see you in 2040.” He realizes he’s “tempting fate” with such a long shoot. You’ve got to be collaborating with the future and just work that into the equation.” Still, he got lucky before. And it’s about friendship, long-term.” So is his famous “Before” trilogy, although for its protagonists Jesse and Céline, a day spent together turns into long-lasting love.

Linklater addressed Julie Delpy’s claims that she was paid a tenth of Ethan Hawke’s salary for its first part “Before Sunrise.” “I actually remember fighting for it because I knew how hard the actors were going to have to work. I did have some producers saying: ‘Oh, Julie has no American credits. We don’t have to pay her that much – we can get her for scale.’ Ethan wasn’t getting much either, but I said: ‘Let’s get them closer.’ It was definitely the most she’s ever been paid.

It was a little less than Ethan but not much.” “I was like: ‘This actor is going to work so hard she doesn’t even know it yet, so let’s pay her, and both of them, as much as we possibly can. But no one was getting paid [much]. It’s not that kind of movie.” At the time, Hawke’s star was quickly on the rise.

He had ‘Reality Bites’ coming up, he had already been in ‘Dead Poets.’ I met him backstage [of his play] and we closed down the bar. We started talking that night and 40 years later we’re still talking.” “He was kind of offended because he was getting offered everything. He says: ‘Rick said I had to come audition.