Richard Linklater and Lynne Ramsay Provide Updates on Their Upcoming Projects

      Richard Linklater operates at such a speed that, with two films currently in theaters, it’s somewhat surprising there hasn’t been any news about his next project. However, he has been planning a film centered on transcendentalism, a literary movement that includes (allow me a moment to recall my sophomore year classes) figures like Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry David Thoreau—I'm sure at least one of you is envisioning a Penguin Classics cover right now—and this project has been in the public eye since a 2014 profile in the New Yorker.

      In a recent interview with Filmmaker Magazine, Linklater mentioned that the film—which focuses on the “hippies of the 1830s and 40s, the beginnings of feminism, environmentalism, abolitionism, and all that,” and serves as a sort of 19th-century hangout film—has been in the works for “20-something years” and is finally nearing completion. It has long been known that Ethan Hawke would take part; he clarified he will play Emerson, while Natalie Portman is interested in portraying Margaret Fuller, and Oscar Isaac is also somewhat involved. Although this project may not seem like a financier's dream, Linklater stated, “I think it might be coming together. People feel a certain urgency to help it in a way that I’m thankful for.” Perhaps some award promotions for Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague will aid in the right development.

      In the meantime, Lynne Ramsay might be deviating from her once-a-decade pace. In an interview with Indiewire, the director of Die My Love revealed that her film Polaris, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara, is still underway, although it requires “a little bit of shaping” with its original script. Last year, she described it to Another Magazine as “Rosemary’s Baby in the Arctic” and suggested that Phoenix plays an “Ahab-like” character; she noted, in a metaphor mix, “there’s a fantastic cut in it that moves from the circle of a burning whale’s eye to a shot from above of children waltzing.” Set at the turn of the 20th century, it features “dark ecological themes.”

      Additionally, Stone Mattress, an adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s work backed by Amazon, with Sandra Oh and Julianne Moore involved, remains uncertain, as it faces logistical challenges typical of film production: “It’s a boat and a cruise to the Arctic. […] You need to book it one year in advance, and pay a substantial deposit.” Similar to Linklater finishing up Blue Moon and Nouvelle Vague, Ramsay might have enough momentum to overcome these challenges. Surely, MUBI’s generously funded Sequoia can be tapped into?