LOS ANGELES — After spending 12 years on his Oscar-nominated drama "Boyhood," Richard Linklater is ready to try the approach again.
Linklater will direct an adaptation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's "Merrily We Roll Along," which will be shot over a 20-year period. Beanie Feldstein, Ben Platt and Blake Jenner are set to star in the film for Blumhouse.
"I first saw, and fell in love with 'Merrily' in the '80s and I can't think of a better place to spend the next 20 years than in the world of a Sondheim musical. I don't enter this multi-year experience lightly, but it seems the best, perhaps the only way, to do this story justice on film," said Linklater.
Ginger Sledge, Jason Blum, Jonathan Marc Sherman and Linklater are producers on the film.
Blum's production company, Blumhouse, had a tongue-in-tweet take on the two decade schedule: "The most ambitious thing about this tremendous project we are undertaking with Richard Linklater is that we boldly assume there will be a planet in 20 years."
Platt also commented on the project on Twitter. "This project has already been one of the most special blessings of my life," he said, adding that he, Feldstein and Jenner "get to portray dream roles in this brilliant marriage of piece & concept courtesy of Rick Linklater."
The actor and singer also specified which roles he and his costars would be playing, saying Jenner is playing Frank Shepard, Feldstein is portraying Mary Flynn and he was cast as Charley Kringas.
Linklater, along with stars Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane, shot "Boyhood" over the course of 12 years. The film would go on to receive several Oscar nominations and a supporting actress win for Arquette.
Rick Pappas brokered the deal for "Merrily We Roll Along" on behalf of Sondheim and Furth.
Feldstein is repped by Brillstein, WME and attorney Danny Passman. Platt is repped by CAA, One Entertainment, Adam Mersel and Jackoway Tyerman Wertheimer. Jenner is repped by Atlas Artists, CAA, Viewpoint and Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern.