Kenneth Lonergan’s Next Film Is Nearly Ready to Shoot

Kenneth Lonergan, one of the few true dramatists left in American cinema, has quietly established himself as a master with just three films to his name — “You Can Count On Me,” “Margaret,” and “Manchester by the Sea.” Each project a meticulous exploration of grief, guilt, and regret.

It’s been nearly a decade since ‘Manchester,’ a film that walked away with Oscars and broke more than a few hearts in the process, but it looks like the long wait for his next feature may finally be coming to an end.

Last year, during a Q&A, Lonergan confirmed that he was “working on” a fourth film. Earlier this year, he mentioned having two scripts in the pipeline, unsure of which one would move forward first.

Now, in a recent conversation with Letterboxd, the filmmaker gave his clearest update yet: not only are there actually three projects in development, but one of them is basically ready to go.

Yeah, I have three films that I’m working on. One of them, the script’s more or less finished, and then another one is about two-thirds finished, and I’m trying to get the one that’s finished into production,” he said. “I’ll be trying to do that in the next few months. With some luck, if everything goes smoothly, I should be filming, I hope, within the next six months.

While Lonergan didn’t drop any titles or plot details, this might be the same project for which “Succession” star Kieran Culkin was reportedly handed a script. The two have a long history: Culkin starred in multiple productions of Lonergan’s “This Is Our Youth,” appeared in “Margaret,” and played opposite Matthew Broderick in Lonergan’s Off-Broadway play “The Starry Messenger.”

Whether Culkin ends up starring or not, the fact remains, Lonergan is moving again. Who knows, this one could end up shooting this fall.