Like the writer for MTV, Before Sunset is definitely one of my favorite films and is probably in my top five of all time. To go along with that I am a big fan of Before Sunrise as well. So, when Ethan Hawke is quoted saying that they had an idea for a third film but it’s not going to happen I get very sad, because this is what good movies are all about.
Hawke talked to MTV about the two films he starred in with French actor/filmmaker Julie Delpy and said, “If the film had been totally ignored we probably already would have made a third one… [Director] Rick [Linklater] said to me the other day, ‘It’s that whole thing of people coming up to you at dinner parties and saying [they] know what happened to [Jesse and Celine]. You don’t want to deal with it.'”
The second film leaves things up in the air and I won’t ruin it for anyone that hasn’t seen it because you really must see it, but based on the way the first two films end off it is just another one of those instances where you just want to know what happens next.
However, Hawke did talk about what the third film would have been had they moved forward, “We had an idea but [it’s] not going to happen, a pretty good outline of what the next one was going to be… But we would need to be in production right now, because we wanted to pick up right where we left off. Rick wanted to do a short film that was just two weeks later. Time goes by so fast.”
For anyone upset that film did not get made, don’t worry, there still may be hope as Hawke finishes up by saying, “I’m starting to think the third one may be when we’re 60,” he laughed. “[But] I’ll be shocked if we never make another one.”
If you haven’t seen Before Sunrise or Before Sunset, buy them now. Also, be sure to check out Once, 2 Days in Paris and Broken English when you get a chance. These are all movies very much in the same genre and simply really good. You won’t regret the time you spend watching them.
