Richard Linklater’s ‘Blue Moon’ Lands at Sony Pictures Classics

Sony Pictures Classics has nabbed the worldwide rights to Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, which is set to star Ethan Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Bobby Cannavale and Andrew Scott.

Production is set to start in early July in Dublin on the drama about the final days of Lorenz Hart, half of the songwriting team Rodgers & Hart and set around Sardi’s Restaurant on March 31, 1943, on the opening night of Oklahoma!

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That production marked Rodgers’ first collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II as Hart’s replacement. Sony Pictures Classics and Renovo Media Group are financing Blue Moon, which is written by Robert Kaplow and reunites Linklater with Hawke in their ninth movie together.

“Robert, Ethan and I have been developing this story for over a decade and are excited and grateful that the time has come to bring this to life,” Linklater said in a statement. Sony Pictures and Linklater have also collaborated since the director’s first film, Slacker, with the partnership continuing with Suburbia and Before Midnight.

Sony Pictures Classics added in its own statement: “Almost a year ago, Rick, Ethan and John reached out to us with Robert Kaplow’s amazing script Blue Moon. Helping them over the following months to bring it together has been incredibly exciting and now, on the verge of production, with this fantastic cast and crew in place and Rick at the helm, we are thrilled to finally announce it and bring the film to audiences everywhere in the world.”

Linklater will share producer credits on Blue Moon with Mike Blizzard and John Sloss. The film will be a Detour/Renovo production in association with Wild Atlantic Pictures, Under The Influence and Cinetic Media.

Executive producer credits go to Macdara Kelleher, Donna Eperon, John Keville, David Kingland, Lisa Crnic, Aaron Wiederspahn and Steven Farneth. Sony Pictures Classics will support the production and Sony will release the film worldwide.

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