Sony Pictures Classics and Fathom Entertainment have unveiled the full-length trailer for “Merrily We Roll Along,” the forthcoming, filmed version of the hit Broadway production starring Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe.
The trailer comes over a year after the Groff and Radcliffe-led revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical wrapped up its successful run at the Hudson Theatre in New York last July. Directed by Maria Friedman, the acclaimed revival marked the first time that “Merrily We Roll Along,” which for many years was considered a cult flop, ran on Broadway since the musical’s original, failed 1981 production.
At the 2024 Tony Awards, the production took home four wins, including Best Orchestrations, Best Musical Revival, Best Lead Actor for Groff and Best Featured Actor for Radcliffe.
It was announced in April that Sony Pictures Classics had acquired the distribution rights to the filmed version of the production. Now, several months later, tickets for the film are officially available to buy and reserve online, and you can check out the trailer for “Merrily We Roll Along” yourself below.
The musical, featuring music and lyrics written by Sondheim, tells its story in reverse. It follows Franklin Shepard (Groff), a well-known composer, and explores how his friendships with Mary (Lindsay Mendez), a writer, and Charley (Radcliffe), a playwright, evolve over the course of 20 years as the three each experience their own, individual successes and failures.
The musical’s 2023-24 production broke the Hudson Theatre’s house record and brought “Merrily We Roll Along” the mainstream attention it had long been denied. Before its theatrical release on Dec. 5, the filmed version of the production is set to play at AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Oct. 25. “Dazed and Confused” and “Boyhood” filmmaker Richard Linklater, meanwhile, is in the midst of filming his own, big-screen take on “Merrily We Roll Along.”
Adopting the same, shot-in-real-time approach Linklater brought to “Boyhood,” the film stars Paul Mescal, Ben Platt, Beanie Feldstein, Mallory Bechtel and Lin-Manuel Miranda. The movie started principal photography in 2019 and its production is expected to last, much like its source material’s story, at least 20 years. As such, it does not yet have a set release date.
Fathom and Sony will release “Merrily We Roll Along” in theaters on Dec. 5.
