Call Me By Your Name Director 'Serious' About Making a Sequel

Call Me By Your Name Director 'Serious' About Making a Sequel

by Sandy Schaefer – on Jul 14, 2018 in Movie News

Michael Stuhlbarg says director Luca Guadagnino is "serious" about making a Call Me By Your Name sequel that picks up with Elio and Oliver a few years after their summer in Italy together. For his part, Guadagnino has said the next film would take place in Berlin circa 1989, six years after the events of the first movie. The sequel would further dive into the politics of the decade by exploring the AIDS crisis, and has the support of Call Me By Your Name book author Andrée Aciman.

Adapted for the screen by writer James Ivory (of Ivory & Merchant fame) and directed by Guadagnino, Call Me By Your Name's sensuous tale of first love against the picturesque backdrop of Northern Italy in the early '80s became a runaway critical success when it hit theaters last year. The film went on to win Ivory his first Oscar and grossed over ten times its $3.5 million budget at the global box office. Guadagnino has since talked up the idea of making a sequel (or possibly even sequels) that follows the characters as they age in real time. According to Stuhlbarg, the filmmaker isn't just humoring reporters either, when they ask him about the project.

Related: Quentin Tarantino Had An Intense Reaction to Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria

In an interview with Far Out Magazine, Stuhlbarg (who plays Elio's father) confirmed that Guadagnino's idea is for the Call Me By Your Name sequel to pick up a few years after its predecessor, "to see what’s happened to these characters and the choices they’ve made, and life after this particularly momentous summer for them all". He also said the project is "something [Guadagnino is] serious about" and that he and Aciman are "thrilled" by the idea.

Call Me By Your Name the novel has a different ending from the film, in that it spans the next twenty years after Oliver and Elio's summer romance (whereas the movie ends a few months after). It's not clear if Guadagnino's sequel would lift anything from the conclusion to Aciman's book, but Stuhlbarg suggested it's a possibility and noted “There are portions of the book that we didn’t mine as thoroughly". He went on to describe the first movie as a "very special experience" for the entire cast and crew, but added he would "absolutely be game" to try and make a followup that's equally unique and memorable.

Seeing as Guadagnino is a highly ambitious filmmaker who doesn't like to repeat himself, a Call Me By Your Name sequel would provide exactly the kind of challenge that he tends to both prefer and excel at. The thought of Guadagnino reuniting with his Call Me By Your Name crew (including stars Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer) is similarly intriguing, given the approach he has in mind. Sequels to Oscar-winning films aren't usually a great idea, but this one feels like it could prove to be that rare Godfather: Part II-style exception to the rule.

MORE: James Ivory Criticizes Call Me By Your Name for Lack of Frontal Nudity

We will continue to keep you updated on the status of the Call Me By Your Name sequel.

Source: Far Out Magazine

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