Call Me By Your Name director, Luca Guadagnino, recently spoke about the possibility of a sequel for the film, saying that it is unlikely to happen any time soon. Call Me By Your Name came out in 2017 and follows the relationship between the 17-year old Elio (Timothée Chalamet) and a grad student, Oliver (Armie Hammer) who has come to visit for the summer. Taking place in 198os Italy, the film is equal parts coming-of-age story, romance, and slice of life film. Call Me By Your Name was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards and would go on to win Best Adapted Screenplay.
Overall, the film received a positive critical reception. Alongside its Oscar nominations, Call Me By Your Name was named one of the 10 best films of the year by The National Board of Review. The film was initially praised for its performances and use of music, as well as its role in bringing more LGBTQ+ stories to the Oscars stage. It also brought in over $40 million in box office sales, picking up a huge amount of traction after premiering at Sundance in January of 2017.
Now, after years of speculation about a sequel to the film, director Luca Guadagnino has come forward to say that a sequel is unlikely to happen anytime soon. In an interview with Deadline, Guadagnino described the possibility of a sequel as "too complicated" right now, pointing to Chalamet's busy schedule as well as his own. Guadagnino is currently working on his first film shot in the U.S., called Bones & All. That being said, the director would still like to be able to make a sequel one day. He even has the opening shot pictured in his head. For now, he says, a sequel is unlikely to happen. He elaborated, saying:
The truth of the matter is, my heart is still there, but I’m working on [Bones & All] now, and I’m hopefully going to do Scarface soon, and I have many projects and so will focus on this side of the Atlantic and the movies I want to make.
Though there is plenty of source material to warrant a sequel, Guadagnino is probably right to step away from the project right now. Aside from his and Chalamet's busy schedules, Hammer has taken a step back from the spotlight after facing troubling allegations about his private life. Brining Hammer back right now could spark controversy, something the film is not new to. Many viewers took issue with the age gap between the two characters. Oliver is 24 in the film while Elio is 17, making him underage in the United States. Many people, including Queer Eye's Karamo Brown, spoke out against the film for what they saw as a glorification of sexual assault and grooming.
Despite its controversy, many fans still want a sequel to the film, and the source material is certainly there. A sequel to the novel, Call Me By Your Name, entitled Find Me, was published in 2019 after the adaptations success. While the novel takes place decades after the original, Guadagnino has also discussed an idea for a film that would take place just three years later and would address the AIDS crisis. Either way, there are certainly multiple avenues for a sequel to come to fruition, it just depends on if the stars ever align for the director and his cast.
Source: Deadline