‘Merrily We Roll Along’ By Richard Linklater.
Back in 2019, Richard Linklater (School Of Rock) had lined up his most ambitious project yet. In fact, many call it the most ambitious in cinema history. “Merrily We Roll Along” is a American epic musical film based on the 1981 stage musical of the same name by Stephen Sondheim and George Furth. It will be written and directed by Linklater. Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are set to star in the musical. Linklater will produce alongside Jason Blum for Blumhouse Productions.
Paul Mescal (Gladiator II, Aftersun) replaces Blake Jenner in the feature. Ben Platt (Politician, Theatre Camp) and Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird) were announced to be part of the cast with Jenner in August 2019. In February 2024, Mallory Bechtel (Hereditary) was cast in an undisclosed role. Isabela Merced also auditioned for the role.
Premise: Merrily follows Franklin Shepard (Mescal), who after establishing himself as talented composer of Broadway musicals, abandons his friends and songwriting career to become a producer of Hollywood movies. The story takes place over 20 years. Ben Platt plays Franklin’s creative partner and lyricist “Charley”, and Feldstein plays the duo’s good friend and theatre critic “Mary”. Linklater will shoot the film over the same time span. The story is told in reverse chronological order, starting with Mary castigating Franklin as a sell-out and ending 20 years earlier with the characters as fresh-faced hopefuls.
On August 2019, Blumhouse Productions acquired the rights to make a “Merrily We Roll Along” film, with Linklater directing the film and producing along with Ginger Sledge, Jason Blum and Jonathan Marc Sherman.
Production on the film was announced to commence every couple of years to reflect the characters age over 20 years, similar to how Linklater filmed his Oscar-nominated “Boyhood” over the span of 12 years. The film is based on the latest version of Furth’s book, which was adapted by Linklater into the film’s screenplay.
Jenner exited the film in late 2019 (after the filming of the “Our Time” sequence) following allegations of domestic abuse made by his ex-wife Melissa Benoist. Paul Mescal took over the role of franklin Shepard proceeding forward, and the sequence was reshot.
Principal photography was suspended from August to November 2023, due to the strikes, and have now resumed since the strikes have ended.
With a book by Furth and music and lyrics by Sondheim, the musical is based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It ran for 44 previews and 16 performances on Broadway in 1981 and recently returned to Broadway, in the form of a revival starring Daniel Radcliffe, Jonathan Groff and Lindsay Mendez, which won a Tony award.
In 2022, Linklater confirmed he has already been shooting now close to two years. He will film at various points over the next 20 years.
“I first saw, and fell in love with ‘Merrily’ in the 80’s and I can’t think of a better place to spend the next 20 years than in the world of a Sondheim musical” Linklater stated. “I don’t enter this multi-year experience lightly, but it seems the best, perhaps the only way, to do this story justice on film”.
In the meantime, Linklater filmed and released “Hit Man” in 2024 starring Glen Powell on Netflix to critical acclaim.
I look forward to watching “Merrily” in 2040.
