‘Last Flag Flying’: Richard Linklater Talks Sequels, More ‘Dazed’ & Disappointment With ‘Everybody Wants Some!!’

It definitely has Travis Bickle’s spirit all over its frames, but there’s also a lot of Robert Bresson in the movie.
Oh, that’s really interesting. You see, I love that.

I actually read Ethan expressed interest in doing another movie in the “Before” series. Do you reckon there’ll be another film?
I just don’t know. I mean, there are 4-5 years left before we can make another one and we swore to not really talk about a potential new film until those full nine years have elapsed. Who knows where Ethan, Julie and I will be at that time. I actually really love the way we ended the trilogy, with that open-endedness that comes with any relationship. Ethan and I go way back [laughs]. We’ve actually discussed a plan for our final hurrah. We want [to make] an adaptation of “King Lear” to be the last thing that we ever do.

That would be quite the career capper!
You know, we see the end game. It’s good to have a vision. It gives me something to look forward to [laughs] . I’m ten years older than him so I’ll be 90, he’ll be 80. Lear’s the big one [laughs]. Ethan kids around that I’ll need to start brushing up on my Shakespeare soon.

Well, before that happens, you have a whole variety of projects lined up.
I’m doing “Where’d You Go Bernadette” with Cate Blanchett. Actually, we finished shooting and it’s set for release next year. It’s actually fairly similar in tone to “Last Flag Flying.” It’s really a nice companion piece in a way.

You’ve actually been keeping yourself consistently busy. Do you envision doing what Woody Allen’s doing these days, a movie a year?
[Laughs] Actually I would love to do that, just make a movie every year. That’d be ideal. You never know, that’s something that could happen. Yeah, I mean this movie is, what, my fourth in five years? ‘Bernadette’ will make it five in six. I love what I do.

You’ve played with both the independent and studio systems. Which do you prefer? You seem to switch back and forth.
After the botched release of “Everybody Wants Some!!” and what Paramount did to that movie, I just don’t know anymore. Amazon has been very good to us and I can foresee working with them again on something else. I’ve known Ted [Hope, who heads film production for Amazon Studios] for a long time and he’s been very good to me over the years and with this film. The paradigm change and shift in this industry — for example, I don’t really think “Bernie” could be made today by a studio today, I would have probably gone the Netflix route or something like that. I’m just very lucky that as the industry has changed I have, more or less, aligned well with those changes and am at a point in my career where I can do what I want.

“Last Flag Flying” opens in New York and Los Angeles on November 3rd and nationwide on November 17th.