Ethan Hawke Says ‘Before’ Films will be a Trilogy

In 1995, Richard Linklater directed 'Before Sunrise' with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. In 2004 the three reunited for a sequel called 'Before Sunset.' It appears that another nine years later the cycle will be complete with a third 'Before' movie.

Ethan Hawke was recently interviewed by Indiewire, and said that they will be shooting the third film this summer (with a likely 2013 release), though Hawke said he's sworn to secrecy about the plot and location because of the internet.

If you haven't seen the first two films, they come highly recommended, and the distance between them enhances the latter. 'Sunrise' follows Hawke as he meets Delphy's character, and - as he's stuck in Vienna on a layover - the two spend a memorable night together getting to know each other and falling in love. 'Sunrise' reunites the two for the first time in nine years, and is about finding out if it they had a real connection or if it was just the romance of a untenable relationship. Though Linklater's 'Dazed and Confused' is usually championed as his best film, it's fair to say that this series (so far) is his greatest accomplishment.

And the use of time as part of the narrative is what made the second film so successful, so if the two are reunited (at least on film) for a third go-around, it's exciting to explore what's happened in the interim. Like Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel films, what makes these movies great is how it shows how age has changed the characters.