Paul Mescal replaces Blake Jenner in multi-year Merrily We Roll Along production

Merrily We Roll Along has hit a bump in the road.

Richard Linklater's movie adaptation of the George Furth-Stephen Sondheim musical has replaced one of its core cast members. Producer Mike Blizzard confirmed to EW that Paul Mescal (Normal People, Aftersun) has stepped into the role of Franklin Shepard, originally filled by Blake Jenner.

A cult classic and initial disappointment for Sondheim, Merrily follows three friends — Franklin Shepard, Mary Flynn, and Charley Kringas — with artistic dreams, charting their careers and relationships from the present in 1976, where Franklin has moved from composer to self-absorbed Hollywood producer, backward through their lives to their youthful aspirations in 1957.

Linklater first announced his intention to adapt the musical in 2019, with plans to film it over a period of 20 years to capture each of the characters at their requisite ages in the storytelling. His original cast included Ben Platt as Charley, Beanie Feldstein as Mary, and Blake Jenner as Franklin.

Jenner reportedly left the project back in 2019 when allegations of domestic abuse were raised by his ex-wife and Glee costar Marisa Benoist. Jenner later issued an apology.

Karwai Tang/WireImage

Mescal has not highlighted his musical talents on screen previously, but he did get his start in acting as the title character in a production of The Phantom of the Opera when he was only 16. He first broke out as the emotionally unavailable Connell Waldron in BBC and Hulu's adaptation of Sally Rooney's Normal People.

Lately, Mescal is a hot item in Hollywood, having also recently been named as the potential star of Ridley Scott's long-gestating Gladiator sequel.

Linklater has already proven his penchant for multi-year film shoots with the success of Boyhood. Production for Merrily We Roll Along reportedly began in 2019, and it remains unclear if there are plans to reshoot any material Jenner might have previously shot.

At any rate, we won't see the final product for nearly two decades.

Related content:

• Richard Linklater adapting Sondheim musical over 20 years with Beanie Feldstein, Ben Platt

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• 'Boyhood': Watch Richard Linklater explain his cinematic experiment