Olivier Assayas is planning sequels to Something in the Air and Suspended Time.

      Unless you're taking into account his brilliant parodies in Clouds of Sils Maria and 2022’s Irma Vep, the names “Olivier Assayas” and “franchise cinema” don’t quite align. However, if he were to shift his focus later in life, his autobiographical films would provide an excellent avenue. In an interview with our own Nick Newman for the Metrograph Journal, Assayas mentioned he is “almost” finished with a screenplay for Something in the Air 2.

      This—of course—would follow his 2012 film, which depicted a young man's journey and disenchantment with political involvement during the events of May ’68, culminating (spoilers for a 14-year-old film) in the suggestion that this aspiring revolutionary would turn to cinema. (Details of this are elaborated upon in the director’s memoir A Post-May Adolescence.) In the conversation, Assayas explained that a sequel to Something in the Air would focus on “The Punk Rock Years,” specifically the 1970s, which (apologies to Lola Créton) is rather too close to the timeline of the original to bring back the actors nearly 20 years later.

      This period has clearly had a significant impact on him; he spoke about it back in 2012, stating:

      It would be quite disingenuous to pretend I can reflect on the ‘70s with nostalgia, because experiencing the ‘70s was challenging—due to the dogmatic politics of the time, which were entirely disconnected from the actual societal circumstances of those years. It felt suffocating, and I’ve conveyed this before, but punk rock in the late ‘70s was a breath of fresh air. It represented the end of something that had become unbearable. It was a significant liberation, so… I do not dismiss the 1970s. They were intriguing. They were chaotic, and people were experimenting with their lives. There was a remarkable beauty in that.

      All of this suggests a rich narrative potential, but there's no certainty that Something in the Air 2 will arrive soon: Assayas remarked, “If I do make it, it won’t be my next film, it will be the one after.” While that would reflect on a bygone era, he is also contemplating a sequel to the very recent Suspended Time, which itself reflects on 2020. Perhaps Vincent Macaigne could reprise his role as Assayas’s stand-in, directing another stand-in (possibly again portrayed by Macaigne?) in a reimagining of the already-meta Irma Vep series, causing the universe to spiral in on itself.