Richard Linklater said he believes the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes in the US will be “resolved soon” as “something’s gotta give”.
The US director revealed he is hoping to resume shooting on Merrily We Roll Along, his 20-year feature project starring Paul Mescal, “pretty soon if we can.” He did not provide exact dates for the resumption of filming. The film is being produced by Blumhouse Productions.
Merrily We Roll Along is a musical comedy based on Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s 1981 musical of the same name; it began principal photography in 2019, with an anticipated delivery date in 2039.
Responding to a question about the strikes from Screen at the press conference for his Venice Competition title Hit Man, Linklater said, “Everyone’s feeling it; no-one’s happy. That’s the problem when you’re in an industry and suddenly no-one’s happy; maybe it’s time to recalibrate and come forward with some things that could be fair to everyone.
“I think something’s gotta give,” continued the filmmaker. “I’m not really in the middle of it so much; I’m on strike, I’m a proud union member, a couple of unions. It’ll be resolved.”
Strikes are a necessary process of the evolution of the labour market, suggested the director. “It’s one of those crucial moments that every now and then – we stand here because 60 years ago people went on strike. Labour has always advanced through that, so every now and then it’s your time to do a correction for the future. It seemed like that came up now; I don’t think it was predicted to this degree, but every now and then.”
“And we’re all feeling our way through it, we don’t even know what the situation will be going forwards. Everyone’s rolling with it best we can.”
AGC Studios’ Hit Man stars Glen Powell as an investigator who plays the role of the hitman to catch individuals ordering a hit.
Linklater faced the press alone, without Powell, castmate Adria Arjona, or any of his creative team including producer Jason Bateman.
The filmmaker said he would be open to another instalment of his popular Before trilogy, which has produced three instalments at nine-year intervals: 1995’s Before Sunrise, 2004’s Before Sunset and 2013’s Before Midnight.
“We missed our nine year thing a few years ago; but as long as we’re here, you never know,” said Linklater. “We won’t do it just to do it; as fun as it will be, we have to have something to say about life at that stage.”
Linklater also spoke highly of Powell, who he first met when Powell was a teenager and secured a role in Linklater’s 2006 film Fast Food Nation. “There is a [Matthew] McConaughey quality [to him],” said Linklater, recalling another US talent he gave a big break, in Dazed And Confused. “The big leap [Powell] made when he came in for Everybody Wants Some – he was a man at that point. He was so smart, funny and charming. He’s obviously a star, as is Adria Arjona. It was fun to have these parts for people of that age. They’re both so gifted. Glenn’s special – if the world doesn’t know that yet, I hope this movie shows that.”
Venice continues until Saturday, September 9.
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