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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.