When we last saw Mason Jr., he was contemplating a future full of possibility on the first day of college. Now Boyhood director Richard Linklater says we may yet get a chance to see what comes of that future.
The filmmaker reveals he’s considering a sequel to Boyhood which would follow Mason Jr. through his 20s. Unlike Boyhood, though, it probably won’t take 12 years to shoot. Read Linklater’s comments on a possible Boyhood sequel after the jump.
Linklater was asked about the possibility of a Boyhood sequel during an appearance on the Q&A podcast (via The Playlist). Here’s what he had to say:
To be honest… this film first met its audience exactly a year ago and for the first six months of the year, my answer to that was absolutely not. This was twelve years, it was first grade through 12th grade; it was about getting out of high school. I had no idea about another story, there’s nothing to say. It hadn’t crossed my mind.
But I don’t know if it’s been a combination of finally feeling that this is over or being asked a similar question a bunch over the last year, that I thought, well, I wake up in the morning thinking, ‘the 20s are pretty formative, you know?’” he admitted. “That’s where you really become who you’re going to be. It’s one thing to grow up and go to college, but it’s another thing to… So, I will admit my mind has drifted towards [this sequel idea].
Linklater doesn’t necessarily feel obligated to stick to the Boyhood format, though.
The twelve years [structure] came out of [school structure]. It wouldn’t have to be twelve years. It wouldn’t have to be… I mean, who knows. I mean, if I learned anything on the ‘Before’ trilogy it took five years to realize that Jesse and Celine were still alive and had anything to say. This one would probably be more accelerated, but who knows.
Whether Boyhood really needs a sequel is certainly up for debate. The movie ended on a pitch-perfect note, and besides, Linklater is already exploring the college experience with his next movie That’s What I’m Talking About. Indeed, Linklater himself has described the film as “a continuation of Boyhood.”
Then again, I wouldn’t have said Before Sunrise needed a sequel either, and yet Before Sunset and then Before Midnight turned out to be better and more essential than I could have possibly predicted. As I see it, Linklater’s earned the benefit of the doubt. Especially as he’s taking care not to dive in without a good idea:
I would love to keep working with this cast and I think we all would. But that can’t be the primary reason to do it. You always need something to say. You can’t do it just cause you want to work with your friends, you gotta have something really inside you you’re trying to communicate about those years. I might happen, but I dunno, it’s in the ether in the moment.
That’s refreshing to hear at a time when major studios regularly date sequels and spinoffs before the first film even opens. In the meantime, That’s What I’m Talking About, which is also a “spiritual sequel” to Dazed and Confused, should hit theaters later this year.
The post Richard Linklater Is Thinking About a ‘Boyhood’ Sequel appeared first on /Film.
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