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Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

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#1

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 2:23pm

Surprised no one's posted about this yet. From Jeff Sneider tweet -

"EXCLUSIVE: RICHARD LINKLATER is directing an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG that will be shot over the course of TWENTY YEARS!!! and star @BenSPlatt and @BeanieFeldstein

http://collider.com/richard-linklater-beanie-feldstein-movie/ "

Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
#2

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 2:37pm

All I can say is WTF?
This before an adaption of Company, Follies, and Sunday is downright shocking. And who wants to wait 20 years to see this?
#5

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 2:50pm

ljay889 said: "All I can say is WTF? This before an adaption of Company, Follies, and Sunday is downright shocking. And who wants to wait 20 years to see this?"

There might be an adaptation of one of those movies between now and ~2040. And you don't have to wait. I doubt anyone except the actual people involved in the movie will even remember anything about this in a few months. You will only have to be reminded 20 years from now when the trailer drops.

Caption: Every so often there was a rare moment of perfect balance when I soared above him.
#6

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 2:51pm

Wow! I'll be in my 50s when this is released. I think it can be a huge hit especially if Platt and Feldstein become household names/hollywood A-listers in 20 years.

#7

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 2:52pm

In the nicest way, it sounds too good to be true! It would take real producing balls to finance a musical like this - especially when money is so crazy and movie companies are merging like crazy. If it works, it'll be pretty incredible. (Though in two decades, the 50s and 60s will be pretty damn ancient to movie audiences!)



"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
#8

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:12pm

All I have to say about this is to repeat Laurence Olivier's words to Dustin Hoffman: "My dear boy, why don't you try acting?" With all the digital effects they can do these days to age/de-age performers, what's the point of drawing this out? To get more life experience out of the performers? What if that life experience doesn't match up with their character's? It's a ridiculous and unnecessary approach, no matter how much people are amazed by Linklater's pet gimmick.

Not to mention, this gimmick is reportedly being applied to a show that even the greater Broadway community has yet to fully embrace, never mind the less aware film-going public. What's it gonna make in 2039 dollars? What in blue hell will the audience be by the time it comes out, assuming there's still an audience or an earth in 20 years?

My verdict: this is never gonna get financed. If, through some unexplained Act of God, it does, they'd better hope someone doesn't croak during the extended production timeline, or else, as Spring Awakening put it, there will be "a moment [they] know [they're] f#¢ked." I'd hate to be the person handling insurance for this thing.

Formerly gvendo2005
Broadway Legend
joined: 5/1/05

Blocked: After Eight, suestorm, david_fick, emlodik, lovebwy, Dave28282, joevitus, BorisTomashevsky, Seb28

Updated On: 8/29/19 at 03:12 PM

#10

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:26pm

Pose2 said: "It's great to be Ben Platt's best friend nowadays!"

I'd say that Beanie Feldstein's success has very little to do with Ben Platt, and she's arguably a bigger film star than he is.

#11

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:28pm

I'm sure the production will be insured against someone croaking. But will it be insured against any of the actors totally going to seed and being ugly af in 20 years? lol Or losing their voices? Or any of the other things that could make them unsuitable for a movie musical over this span of time?



It paid off for Linklater with Boyhood (which was made for $4 million and grossed $44 million), but who knows if lighting will strike twice?

Just remembering you've had an "and" When you're back to "or" Makes the "or" mean more than it did before

Updated On: 8/29/19 at 03:28 PM

#12

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:37pm

It's not just that lightning has to strike twice:

There's a big difference between 12 years and 20 years (if my math is correct, the difference is...let's see...8 years!). A lot can happen in 8 years. Plus, they were able shape and mold the screenplay of Boyhood based on the trajectory of the actors' lives. The same can't be done with this.

But at the end of the day, this isn't our headache! If they want to try to get this made, and if someone is willing finance and insure it - that's their risk. I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds.

#13

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:37pm

CT2NYC said: "Pose2 said: "It's great to be Ben Platt's best friend nowadays!"

I'd say that Beanie Feldstein's success has very little to do with Ben Platt, and she's arguably a bigger film star than he is."

She has been in three films in a featured role and only got them after he became popular. Also, right after Ben worked with Ryan Murphy, she was cast as Monica Lewinsky. You are fooling yourself if you don't think her family and Ben had anything to do with her success because it 100% does. A film STAR? That is the funniest thing I've read all day.

#15

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:40pm

Did someone just call this person a film star? She's been in 5 movies total. Three movies that people actually saw. Revisit this in 30 years.

#16

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:43pm

Maybe not a film star per say, but I'd agree that Beanie Feldstein has had more success in movies than Ben Platt. I can't remember any movies he's been in other than the first 2 Pitch Perfects? While she was in Lady Bird and Booksmart in the past 2 years.

As for the movie however, SUPER excited for this. Recently got into the soundtrack and this sounds like an all star grouping. Extremely ambitious, but if it works it could be amazing. I think the 2013 West End production was fantastic, so I'm hoping they take some inspiration from that.

#17

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:44pm

JBroadway said: "Pose2 said: "She has been in three films in a featured role"

She was the lead in Booksmart

Didn't realize that made her a film star. She has wealth, privilege and opportunity due to her best friend and brother. Why are we pretending like that's not a real thing that happens all the time? I understand that Ben's army of fans are fiercely protective of him but let's be real here.

#19

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:47pm

Beanie is definitely more known to cinephiles and film fans than Ben. Booksmart and Lady Bird are two of the more talked about indie films in recent years.

I'd argue Linklater is likely more aware of these films than he is Ben's most famous projects.

No harm in saying they helped each other book this job but let's not act like Ben is some highly sought after movie actor and Beanie is his ride along in this scenario.
#20

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:50pm

Ben has always focused more on theater and now music. I don't think he has much interest in being in tons of films, if he did his Father would have already made that happen.

When Ben was on Will and Grace his best friend had a cameo. Why? Because of HIM. So, let's not bull**** each other.

#22

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:52pm

Imagine griping about nepotism in the entertainment industry like its not built on it. We get it, you need something to moan about. At least she’s talented. I loved her in Dolly and Lady Bird.

As for the film itself I really don’t think this warrants a Boyhood-level production when its likely not going to have a similar payoff (and I don’t think Boyhood was a massive success to begin with). This sounds like it’ll wind up in development hell one way or another, but I do love the idea.
#23

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:53pm

Pose2 said: "Ben has always focused more on theater and now music. I don't think he has much interest in being in tons of films, if he did his Father would have already made that happen.

When Ben was on Will and Grace his best friend had a cameo. Why? Because of HIM. So, let's not bull**** each other."



Bitter? Party of one? Your table is ready...

#24

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:54pm

And Will & Grace isn't a movie so I'm not sure what the relevance is there.

Ben and Beanie have both benefitted from nepotism (father and brother respectively) and they've both made a name for themselves. As you note, Ben more so in theatre and music, Beanie more so in film. So why would this Beanie getting this film role be solely down to Ben's involvement?
#25

Richard Linklater - Merrily We Roll Along

Posted: 8/29/19 at 3:54pm

carolinaguy said: "I'm sure the production will be insured against someone croaking. But will it be insured against any of the actors totally going to seed and being ugly af in 20 years? lol Or losing their voices? Or any of the other things that could make them unsuitable for a movie musical over this span of time?



It paid off for Linklater with Boyhood (which was made for $4 million and grossed $44 million), but who knows if lighting will strike twice?"

It paid off financially, but boy what that an aimless pointless movie with a black hole of a lead player. "We saw him age for real!" Yeah, you can do that everyday of the week looking through someone's photo album. Which probably won't seem as unfocused and meandering as Boyhood.

I happen to like Merrily, despite having been a dresser on a production, which is hell, let me tell you. I think the material has better chance of working on film than a lot of Sondheim's shows, which are so inherently theatrical. But this is the wrong way to go about bringing it to the screen.

Updated On: 8/29/19 at 03:54 PM

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