Back in 2019, Richard Linklater announced what was probably going to be the most ambitious film project of his career, “Merrily We Roll Along.” Unfortunately, this is a film you won’t be able to see for another couple of decades, as Linklater is filming segments with the same group of actors over the course of 20 years to properly adapt Stephen Sondheim‘s acclaimed musical. And it appears the film has already hit a bit of a snag, as Paul Mescal has been brought in to replace one of the three leads.
According to Above the Line, Paul Mescal has replaced Blake Jenner in the upcoming film, “Merrily We Roll Along,” by director Richard Linklater. As mentioned, this is a film that was announced in 2019, with scenes shot shortly thereafter. The production is expected to last 20 years, with scenes being shot every so often to document the career-spanning story of a Broadway composer who leaves the world of theater to make it big in Hollywood. Mescal is now set to take over the role of Franklin Shepard, the lead in the film. Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein are his co-stars, playing Frank’s regular lyricist and his best friend/theater critic, respectively.
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Why was the change made? Well, back in 2020, after scenes for ‘Merrily’ had already been filmed, Jenner admitted to being involved in domestic violence against his partner, actress Melissa Benoist. Since then, as you might expect, his acting roles have dried up and he apparently lost his spot in the ‘Merrily’ cast.
However, due to the complicated nature of the ‘Merrily’ production, it’s unclear how Linklater is including Mescal now. Did he reshoot Jenner’s scenes? Is there some sort of movie magic that allowed Mescal to replace Jenner in already-shot scenes? We don’t know the answers to that yet. Regardless, for the next couple of decades, barring another unforeseen complication, Mescal, Platt, and Feldstein are going to be working together quite often.
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Mescal broke out with his role in the Hulu series, “Normal People.” Since then, he’s appeared in a number of high-profile projects, including the acclaimed drama, “Aftersun,” which is one of the awards season contenders for 2022/2023. He also recently signed on to star in Ridley Scott’s long-awaited “Gladiator” sequel.
Obviously, no release date for “Merrily We Roll Along” is known at this time. But you can probably expect it sometime near 2040.