Richard Linklater has hinted at the possibility of a sequel to Boyhood. Although the writer-director imagined the groundbreaking film — shot over a period of twelve years — as a one-off, he told Jeff Goldsmith that he is now considering the idea of taking young Mason’s story beyond high school and into college. “This was 12 years, it was first grade through 12th grade; it was about getting out of high school. I had no idea about another story, there’s nothing to say. It hadn’t crossed my mind. But I don’t know if it’s been a combination of finally feeling that this is over or being asked a similar question a bunch over the last year, that I thought, well, I wake up in the morning thinking: ‘The 20s are pretty formative, you know?’”
Linklater admits that in the last few months his mind has been drifting towards the idea of a sequel. Presumably it would be called Manhood. Will it happen? Obviously it would have to have the same actors as Boyhood, but a cast reunion shouldn’t be a reason to make a film. “I would love to keep working with this cast and I think we all would,” he said. “But that can’t be the primary reason to do it. You always need something to say. You can’t do it just cause you want to work with your friends, you gotta have something really inside you you’re trying to communicate about those years. I might happen, but I dunno, it’s in the ether in the moment.” Linklater has made sequels before (Before Sunset and Before Midnight are continuations of Before Sunrise). Good news for stoners too old to be hanging around high schoolers everywhere: his upcoming film That’s What I’m Talking About is described as a loose sequel to Dazed and Confused. To which we say “Alright, alright, alright.”
