Richard Linklater secretly wraps Before Midnight

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So as it turns out, Ethan Hawke is a pretty good liar. Just last week we reported that work had begun on filming Before Midnight , a sequel to Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise and Before Sunset , with Hawke describing the work as being very much in the preliminary stages.

“If it works out, we’ll film it, and if it doesn’t, we won’t,” were his exact words. Well it seems as though things have definitely “worked out”, as not only has filming begun on the project, but the whole thing is in the can!

The film apparently wrapped last night, and will be touted round to potential buyers at this week’s Toronto Film Festival. Meanwhile, Linklater, Hawke and co-star Julie Delpy have released a joint statement confirming their secret carryings on!

“It’s great to be back together again,” reads the statement, “this time in beautiful Greece to revisit the lives of Celine and Jesse nine years after Jesse was about to miss his flight.”

The first film followed strangers Celine and Jesse as they set about exploring Vienna together, while the follow-up saw them rekindle their feelings for each other during a stolen day in Paris. Plot-wise, we don’t know what will be waiting for them in Greece, but chances are it will be terribly romantic...

In an age where every movie set is riddled with paparazzi and stars confronted with a barrage of questions at every turn, it’s quite refreshing to see a film (and a sequel at that) fly so comprehensively under the radar. Mr. Linklater, we doff our hats to you!