As you probably have heard by now, writer Tom Perrota, the author of 1998’s novel “Election,” which was adapted into a very successful feature film by filmmaker Alexander Payne, has written the sequel, 2022’s book “Tracy Flick Can’t Win.” And some years back, it was announced that Payne and Reese Witherspoon would reunite to adapt that book into a movie.
Some thought it would be Payne’s next movie. Still, instead, he went on to make “The Holdovers,” which is in theaters now, starring Paul Giamatti as a cranky history teacher at a remote prep school who is forced to remain on campus over the holidays with a troubled student who has no place to go.
So what is the hold-up on “Tracy Flick Can’t Win”? Well, in a new Happy Sad Confused interview, Payne explained just that, and it’s a bit three-tiered.
For one, the book exists; it’s out in the world, but since its plot and story are known, it sounds like Payne wants to do something more original.
For two, the book does not include Matthew Broderick’s Jim McAllister high school social studies teacher, and Payne says he wants to find a way to work Broderick into the movie.
Third, “Tracy Flick Can’t Win” is set in a high school—her character drops out of law school, has a baby, becomes a teacher, and vies for the principal job in the story—but Payne says, having just directed “The Holdovers” which is also set in a school, he’s a bit over high school movies, has directed too many and needs to figure out a way to more “loosely” adapt the novel.
When asked if/when he’ll make it, here’s what Payne had to say.
“Tom wrote a very fine novel, as he always does; he’s an outstanding writer, [producer] Jim Taylor would enjoy [doing that], and Reese Witherspoon would enjoy playing it, and we’d want to rope in Matthew Broderick, Mathew’s character Jim McAllister is not in this book, but we’d want to rope him in somehow,” he explained.
Then, Payne went on to detail his current high school film aversion. “The other thing is that I’m slightly averse to making another high school movie,” he said. “I did ‘Election,’ I did ‘Holdovers,’ there are bits and pieces of it in ‘Sideways,’ and I did it in a [TV] pilot [“Hung”], so I’m a little over it, so Jim and I are talking right now about how can we adapt that novel faithfully, but loosely” and put our own voice into it. We’ll get there. We’re not quite there, but we’ll get there.”
“Also, to be clear, [‘Holdovers’ writer] Tom Perrota’s [‘Election’ sequel] novel also takes place in a high school, so that’s why I said I didn’t want to make another high school movie.”
OK, fair enough. So, no high school films for Alexander Payne in the near future. Maybe Payne and producer/co-writer Jim Taylor need to rethink the setting, maybe give her a new vocation, and they could be off and running.
There’s no timetable on that sequel, but we may just have to remain patient, given that Payne’s been talking about a Western and other projects.
“We’re conceiving a Western right now,” Payne said of he and ‘Holdovers’ writer David Hemingson this week to Deadline. “I’ve always wanted to make a real Western. There’s another project that I have. The screenplay isn’t quite ready, but it takes place in Paris and is in the French language.”
As for small screen projects, he says, “I still think just about movies and not TV series.”
