Linklater’s MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Film - News & Discussion Thread

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 5:32pm

https://abovetheline.com/2023/01/09/paul-mescal-merrily-we-roll-along-movie-richard-linklater-ben-platt-beanie-feldstein/

Paul Mescal, the star of A24’s Aftersunand Hulu’s Normal People who just landed the lead in Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator sequel, has been tapped to replace Blake Jennerin Richard Linklater‘s ambitious multi-decade feature adaptation of Stephen Sondheim‘s acclaimed musical Merrily We Roll Along, multiple sources tell Above the Line.

Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein were cast way back in the summer of 2019 when the project first began filming. Jenner did shoot scenes for the film, though he exited the project shortly after domestic violence allegations surfaced against the actor from his ex-wife, Supergirl star Melissa Benoist.

Mescal takes over the lead role of Franklin Shepard, a talented Broadway composer who abandons his theater career in New York and all his friends in order to produce movies in Los Angeles. Like the play, the musical begins at the height of his Hollywood fame and moves backward in time, showing snapshots of the most important moments in Frank’s life that shaped the man he went on to become. Feldstein will play Frank’s best friend, theater critic Mary Flynn, while her real-life pal Platt will play Charley, Frank’s regular lyricist.

Updated On: 2/6/24 at 05:32 PM

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 5:45pm

I guess now we enter a new round of speculation over whether or not this will ever actually happen. I really hope it does! I guess they probably have to start over?

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 6:07pm

I love Mescal, but such a missed opportunity to cast an actor of color.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 6:24pm

If beanie couldn't sing funny girl. Can she sing this? lol 

Updated On: 1/9/23 at 06:24 PM

[Jeff Tupolski]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 6:33pm

Well, if the decades long shooting schedule is gonna be messed with, at least it’s happening sooner rather than later. Something like this is why I don’t really think Linklater’s years long filmmaking is suited to adaptations. Boyhood and the Before trilogy weren’t nailed down to a set story, so excluding something truly disastrous, the narrative could be reshaped and rebound from real life complications in a way that this film can’t.

Anyway, hopefully the rest of production goes off without a hitch. Mescal’s a much more promising choice for Frank than Jenner, even if he might look somewhat distractingly older than Ben and Beanie, despite being younger.

[BJR]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 6:41pm

If they already have to reshoot the 2019 scenes, then what a shame to essentially push the whole film back another 4 years...

[Jarethan]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 7:24pm

broadwayboy223 said: "If beanie couldn't sing funny girl. Can she sing this? lol"

Mary’s songs seems straightforward to me.  I can’t see it being an issue.  

[Robbie2]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 7:31pm

broadwayboy223 said: "If beanie couldn't sing funny girl. Can she sing this? lol"

LOL but the questions is, do we really want to hear her sing and torture this amazing score with her whiny, nasally voice? If it ever gets made and why her for that role. Don't get the casting?

Updated On: 1/9/23 at 07:31 PM

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 7:57pm

broadwayboy223 said: "If beanie couldn't sing funny girl. Can she sing this? lol"

 

Beanie could sing Funny Girl. Just not the way most of wanted. She was miscast in that but she is actually a good fit for this role and I think she should be a decent Mary.

If this film actually gets made.

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:11pm

Honestly, I wonder if this project would be cheaper long term if Linklater hedged, and shot this movie with three completely different sets of actors simultaneously. Blake Jenner already being fired illustrates that actors can become unavailable for all types of reasons, and if ever a film needed understudies, a movie being filmed over 20 years is it. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:27pm

Jonathan Cohen said: "Honestly, I wonder if this project would be cheaper long term if Linklater hedged, and shot this movie with three completely different sets of actors simultaneously. Blake Jenner already being fired illustrates that actors can become unavailable for all types of reasons, and if ever a film needed understudies, a movie being filmed over 20 years is it."

 

In what world would that be cheaper? lol

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:36pm

You're just paying for everything other than the actors once and if one of the leads drops out 15 years in, the whole project doesn't fall apart. 

It's not inherently cheaper, but if something goes wrong, it would save money down the line.    

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 1/9/23 at 8:37pm

Just film/simulcast the Broadway revival in theaters and then do a mini-documentary before the show about the history of the show and this revival and the full-circle story of now being a (probable) Broadway success.

[bear88]

Posted: 1/10/23 at 3:53am

Not that it will matter in two decades, if the film actually gets made, but if feels like the premise - let's film over 20 years so the actors age in real time - is already getting muddled. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are 29, Paul Mescal is 26. We're already running into the Dear Evan Hansen problem again, where the stars look too old when they're supposed to be young, fresh and optimistic. Decent hair and makeup can help with that, but decent hair and makeup could make the whole enterprise pointless. 

Behind the camera, Richard Linklater is 62.

I realize the whole thing is a passion project by people who have enough money to get it made. But at the moment, with a Merrily revival on Broadway with a more impressive cast than the film cast, it's hard to get worked up about it. Maybe, in 20 years. 

Can Mescal sing? I guess we may find out in 2043. We'll see if I'm alive by then.

[blasvader]

Posted: 1/10/23 at 7:52am

Mescal reads older than he is. Honestly, doing it for Boyhood made more sense to me. There's more of a sense of transition, and something to capture about that. Not sure there's the same amount to be mined by doing this over all these years.

[Owen22]

Posted: 1/10/23 at 10:12am

I don't know...Boyhood was so moving because we got to see the boy age in front of our eyes.  The Harry Potter films, the same. I personally hate waiting for it, hope I live long enough to see it, but I think this style of filming suits this show to a T.

Updated On: 1/10/23 at 10:12 AM

[Tag]

Posted: 1/10/23 at 11:01am

TotallyEffed said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "Honestly, I wonder if this project would be cheaper long term if Linklater hedged, and shot this movie with three completely different sets of actors simultaneously. Blake Jenner already being fired illustrates that actors can become unavailable for all types of reasons, and if ever a film needed understudies, a movie being filmed over 20 years is it."


In what world would that be cheaper? lol"

By saving 20 years worth of insurance payments.

 

[thirtythirtyninety]

Posted: 1/10/23 at 12:48pm

Mescal is a HUGE upgrade to be sure. One of the best young actors working today, and a wonderful singer as well. There are quite a few videos of him singing floating around, including his performances as Javert & Phantom in school 

Updated On: 1/10/23 at 12:48 PM

[Owen22]

Posted: 1/21/23 at 2:00pm

Presumably they have gone back and refilmed the rooftop scene with Paul Mescal (who must have been replaced ages ago as he has been in rehearsals for Streetcar from at least early November) and will be filming Opening Doors later this year.

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/ben-platt-praises-paul-mescal-merrily-we-roll-along-musical-film-1235496641/?fbclid=IwAR1UZtqyCuq0tnw-eT2mDXcrgby8qrwrIsOdf879XnFu1X2AwzO-U1jHTMI

Updated On: 1/21/23 at 02:00 PM

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 9/5/23 at 7:47am

https://variety.com/2023/film/global/richard-linklater-merrily-we-roll-along-filming-strikes-1235713267/

During the Venice Film Festival press conference for his upcoming movie “Hit Man,” Linklater briefly discussed “Merrily,” which will be filmed periodically over the course of 20 years. Principal photography began in 2019 with a target release date in 2039, and the film stars Paul Mescal, Beanie Feldstein and Ben Platt. 

“Eighteen years from now, we might be done,” Linklater said. “We’re shooting again pretty soon if we can. I’m hopeful like everyone that the strikes will be resolved by then, I think they will.”

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/5/23 at 7:58am

broadwayboy223 said: "If beanie couldn't sing funny girl. Can she sing this? lol"

Um, well, to put it politely and understatedly, the vocal demands of the roles are somewhat different.

"Honestly, I wonder if this project would be cheaper long term if Linklater hedged, and shot this movie with three completely different sets of actors simultaneously."

Linklater has made legendary--and legendarily moving- filmmaking with this longitudinal and highly original approach.  If there ever was a project that called out for this genre which he created and has brilliantly realized (if there is any moment more romantically gripping in recent moviemaking than the final frame of Before Sunset, I'd like to see it.. watch it and tell me Linklater and a decades-continuous trio of leads won't make the stunning final scene of Merrily something to live for for anyone who loves movies) it's Merrily.

Updated On: 9/5/23 at 07:58 AM

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/6/24 at 11:55am

Mallory Bechtel has joined the cast (as Beth?):

https://deadline.com/2024/02/merrily-we-roll-along-movie-adds-mallory-bechtel-1235816405/

 

[Springtime]

Posted: 2/6/24 at 3:38pm

Mescal saw Merrily on Broadway last week (on his birthday).

[The Rural Juror]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 8:23am

Mescal's involvement with this project is kind of its saving grace right now. Both Platt and Feldstein having pretty high-profile, musical-related flops over the past couple years was not great marketing for this. Those, coupled with the tremendous reviews of the current revival and its cast was already painting this movie as the "inferior" version, even though it's still like 15 years away. But Paul Mescal is one of the most promising up-and-comers in the industry, and is looking to have a big presence in prestige filmmaking. So as long as he doesn't tank his career in the next decade, it could be a big selling point for this movie to see one of the best actors progress over 15 years. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 2/7/24 at 10:53am

I was just thinking about this yesterday. One of the things I found most moving about Boyhood was that, in addition to seeing the actors age, we got to see the world change around them. Outdated technology or passing fads weren't inserted as cheap references, but because they were actual aspects of living in middle America at the time the movie was being filmed. Seeing a Gameboy or a defunct chain restaurant in Boyhood hit me in a way that a movie shot today wouldn't.

Merrily is a period piece. If you're already going to have to build sets and source props to recreate 1950s to 1970s New York, then filming in real time doesn't seem like it would have as much as an impact as it did in Boyhood. Unless they're doing some radical reinterpretation of the material where it's updated to take place in the 2010s to 2030s.