Merrily We Roll Along anticipation thread - in theaters in 2040

Cafe Society
1

Richard Linklater will adapt Stephen Sondheim’s musical, Merrily We Roll Along. The movie, as with the play, takes place over the course of 20 years. Richard Linklater plans to film this in real time, so it’ll be a while before Fandango has tickets.

I thought Boyhood, which took a comparatively snappy 12 years to film, was a poorly structured indulgent mess. I love Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette but I didn’t believe either was well-used in Boyhood. The titular boy couldn’t act. I simply did not care what was happening.

But I’m really excited about this! Linklater has made some wonderful quirky films: Before Sunrise, Slacker, Dazed and Confused. Even Bernie and School of Rock are fun and never has more been done with Jack Black’s talent.

Boyhood was an original story, so any casting or location changes could have easily been written into the script as needed. Merrily, on the other hand will need to lock down an entire cast for 20 years and live with the consequences. I don’t even know how you insure such a monstrosity. Moreover, I know the plot of Merrily will work - this is just a delightfully organic way to execute it. The film will star Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein and Blake Jenner.

2

I’ll be long dead when it’s finally released. For me, it’ll be “Merrily We Roll Over in Our Graves.”

3

I think I should make it but life doesn’t offer guarantees. Linklater will be roughly 80 by then. I hope he has a contingency plan at least.

4

Are there even going to be theaters in 2040?

5

One more question, is he drunk? According to IBDB, it had 44 previews and 14 performances. And the music? It sounds dated now. I suspect it sounded dated in 1981. It’s going to sound pretty damn moldy in 2040. Is he going for irony? He should do “Lost Horizon”. That was a foot-tapping classic.

6

It’ll be released opposite the 15th Spider-Man reboot.