What A Fourth Before Sunrise Movie Would Be About

Director Richard Linklater is pushing for a fourth Before Sunrise film, but what could it possibly be about? Recently, Julie Deply revealed that she turned down the filmmaker’s offer to make the next installment of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine’s love story. While Hawke has spoken on superhero movies, Deply has candidly spoken to say that she’s currently contemplating retiring from the industry. However, the actress’ comments also confirmed that there are ongoing plans to continue the romantic trilogy.

Jesse and Celine’s narrative began in 1995 with Before Sunrise after their chance meeting in a train bound for Paris. They had instant chemistry, and the pair, haphazardly, got off the train in Vienna and proceeded the whole day together until they had to separate in the morning. Nine years after in 2004, the sequel to the movie was released in Before Sunset chronicling their reunion in Paris, where they decided to finally stay together. Another nine years in 2013 was when Before Midnight hit theaters; rounding up the trilogy, the film saw Jesse and Celine’s struggle coping with the changes in their relationship as they raise their twins.

With three films in, Linklater could leave the Before Sunrise franchise as it currently is. Before Midnight could very well function as its overall ending, with the couple coming to terms with their full history together, including all its ups and downs. But as it turns out, the filmmaker has been pushing for a fourth installment; while Deply has already declined to return, this poses questions about where the proposed film will take Jesse and Celine’s love story. Back in January 2020, Linklater jokingly said in a conversation with New York Times that he might wait until the characters are 80 years old and “do a comic remake of Amour, where one euthanizes the other in old age.” While this comment was mostly to get some laughs, the idea of waiting longer to revisit the pair is up the director’s wheelhouse as proven by his other projects such as Boyhood and Merrily We Roll Along. Assuming that this would be the case, it would be interesting to see what kind of conversations Jesse and Celine are having, because, chances are, they are still engaging in long discussions about anything and everything.

Meanwhile, a couple of months later in March 2020, Hawke shared his version of a fourth Before Sunrise film in an interview with IndieWire. As the world collectively dealt with the spread of coronavirus, the actor said that a pandemic-set entry to the franchise could be a possibility. In it, Jesse and Celine navigate through their time isolating in their home as the world shut down out of necessity to curb the pandemic, which has delayed and canceled movies. As grim as this may sound, and surely not everyone is game to relive the horror of this global crisis at the movies, it’s a premise that could work. Outside of the fact that it’s a reminder of the health tragedy, seeing Jesse and Celine in their home after three films of them navigating various European destinations would be a good way to shake things up. It would be interesting how this less dreamy and more realistic setting would impact their signature talks, if at all.

At this point, what’s clear is that the nine-year gap in between installments of the Before Sunrise series won’t be followed for the supposed fourth outing. But, that really doesn’t matter as long as the movie pushes through and with Linklater involved. While Deply has refused to star in the proposed follow-up at this point, it doesn’t mean that she won’t change her mind, especially if there’s a really compelling story for the project.

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