Is Richard Linklater Thinking About a Boyhood Sequel?
Boyhood was unable to obtain the Best Picture Oscar at the 87th Academy Awards this past Sunday — an award everyone thought was heading its way. But its director, Richard Linklater, isn't too downhearted as he has been recently thinking about a sequel to the 12-year long tale.
Boyhood ends with Mason contemplating a future full of possibility on his first day of college, which could lead to a perfect springboard for a second movie. Linklater revealed that he is considering a sequel to Boyhood which would follow Mason through his 20's. Unlike Boyhood, though, it probably won’t take 12 years to shoot.
Linklater was asked about the possibility of a Boyhood sequel during an appearance on the Q&A Podcast, here's some quotes from the interview:
it hadn't crossed my mind
"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." said Linklater. "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."
Linklater went on to say, "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 of times over the last year." Linklater then goes on to reveal a possible sequel idea, "I wake up in the morning thinking, the 20s are pretty formative, you know? 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."
would love to keep working with this cast
Linklater went on to admit he doesn’t necessarily feel obligated to stick to the original Boyhood format, "The twelve years structure came out of the school structure. It wouldn’t have to be twelve years. It wouldn’t have to be… I mean, who knows. If I learned anything on the ‘Before’ trilogy it took five years to realise that Jesse and Celine were still alive and had anything to say. This one would probably be more accelerated, but who knows."
Linklater goes on to agree that there has to be a genuine reason behind a sequel, "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."
Richard Linklater's next movie is That’s What I’m Talking About is the spiritual sequel to his critically acclaimed Dazed and Confused. It is scheduled to be released later this year.
