Linklater three sections into 20-year Merrily We Roll Along shoot
Richard Linklater is three sections into a film he plans to shoot for 20 years.
He shared the update while accepting a career achievement award at the Zurich Film Festival, in remarks reported on 28 September 2026 by The Hollywood Reporter. The film in question is Merrily We Roll Along. It is a long-term screen adaptation, not a shoot completed in one block.
He spoke to a festival audience gathered for the honour. The conversation turned quickly to the timetable. The approach means returning to the same cast at intervals over many years, rather than filming everything at once.
The story starts on stage. The film is based on Stephen Sondheim's 1981 musical of the same name. That musical was itself based on the 1934 play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.
The cast is set. Paul Mescal, Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein star. Linklater told the Zurich audience he is building the film in nine separate sections spread across two decades.
For newcomers, the idea is simple. The actors keep living and ageing between shoots. The camera catches up with them each time.
Three sections are now done. The fourth will film in a few months, he said.
That pace puts the production roughly where it was a year ago, only a little further on. Linklater had said in October 2025 that he was about a third of the way through, according to Screen Daily. Three sections out of nine is a third. The next shoot keeps that slow clock ticking.
Linklater knows this rhythm. His drama Boyhood was shot over 12 years. He said that production worked in complete anonymity, free from outside attention while it grew year by year.
There has been one big casting change along the way. Mescal replaced Blake Jenner in the ensemble, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter in January 2023. The 20-year adaptation is backed by production company Blumhouse.
Film fans should not confuse this project with another Merrily headed to screens. A filmed version of the Broadway theatre revival was picked up for worldwide release by Sony Pictures Classics, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter in April 2025. Worldwide rights, in plain terms, means the company can release that recording in cinemas around the world. That is a recording of the stage show. Linklater's version is a separate film made over years.
For fans, this means patience. There will be no rush to cinemas next year. The cameras roll for a short period, then wait for years before rolling again.
