After nine films together, including “Blue Moon,” which had its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Tuesday, Richard Linklater and Ethan Hawke still want to work together. And they hope their next collaboration, a historical drama, happens as soon as possible, if they find someone to finance it.
Variety reports that Linklater teased the project after the “Blue Moon” premiere. When asked if fans would need to wait another decade for him and Hawke to work together again (“Boyhood” came out in 2014), the director replied, “There’s this thing we’re working on, it’s kind of a historical piece, 19th-century thing. Hopefully he’s a big part of that. But until it’s financed and ready to go, I never really talk about things too much just because they get frustrating.”
A 19th-century period drama from Linklater? Sign us up. But Linklater didn’t divulge further details, or if there’s an urgency in him and Hawke to make it. “There’s pressure enough,” he continued, “just to see how films come together. Each one’s a miracle. I don’t know how films get made, I just feel like each time I get lucky and this happens. It’s hard, but it’s not real until it’s real.”
On the other hand, a “nervous” Hawke had to hold is tongue about the project. “I’m dying to,” he said about making the film, “but I’m always worried. I want to get it financed. We’ve got something we’ve been working on for a long time, and it seems like it’s finally ready. And I feel like the world is ready for it, and we’re done with it.” Hawke added that he’s “not trying to be coy” about not disclosing further info either. “I just don’t want to blow it and talk about it publicly, and then people say, ‘That sounds like a bad idea,’ and then it never get financed,” continued the actor.
Hawke and Linklater’s films together include the “Before” trilogy, “Fast Food Nation,” “Waking Life,” and others. Their latest, “Blue Moon,” which stars Hawke as American lyricist Lorenz Hart, also stars Andrew Scott, Margaret Qualley, and Bobby Cannavale. Sony Pictures plans a May theatrical release date for the film.
Other highlights at the “Blue Moon” press conference in Berlin include Hawke sounding off about the movie industry’s obsession with money over artistic integrity. “When we prioritize money at all costs, what we get is generic material that appeals to the most amount of people and we’re told that’s the best,” said the actor. “It’s a dance we all do together. If you love offensive art and you want it, demand it. Right now, people don’t think they’ll make any money off it so it doesn’t get made.”
The duo also used their press time (their fifth one together in Berlin) to discuss a potential fourth “Before” movie. It only seems right for journalists to ask about further stories about Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy‘s Celine on the 30th anniversary of “Before Sunrise.” But Linklater confirmed “there still nothing on the books” for a new installment, mainly because he hasn’t “had the good idea.” Hawke added, “There’s something about the third one that felt like it might be over. The first one opens with them watching a couple of in their 40s fighting on the train, and we become that couple. So it feels finished, like the circle is complete.”
But Hawke also teased that “something could happen that might change — but it hasn’t happened yet.” It’s still something that he, Linklater, and Delpy discuss, even if they haven’t cooked up the right idea. “Somebody will have an idea and everyone will go, ‘Yes!’ and other times everyone goes ‘Nah, I don’t like it,'” he continued.
Read The Playlist’s review of “Blue Moon” out of Berlin here.
