Richard Linklater on the Making of 'Everybody Wants Some'

Linklater, 55, told Peter Travers that the film stems from real-life events.

ByABC News
April 13, 2016, 3:56 PM

— -- Fresh off the success of his critically acclaimed 12-year film project “Boyhood,” director Richard Linklater is back in the spotlight with a new film.

This time, Linklater is delving into the world of college freshmen in the 1980s with "Everybody Wants Some." He told ABC News that his latest films link together in a strange way.

"'Boyhood' ends with him going off to college. And this movie starts right there. So in a way, 'Everybody Wants Some' is sort of a continuation of 'Boyhood,' if we change personalities completely. It’s a very different guy,” joked Linkater. “And if you jump back in time 35 years it’s kind of a sequel to 'Dazed [and Confused].' In a strange way, it’s a sequel and a continuation.”

Linklater, 55, told Peter Travers that the film stems from real-life events.

PHOTO: Richard Linklater and Peter Travers at the ABC Headquarters in New York, March 9, 2016
Richard Linklater and Peter Travers at the ABC Headquarters in New York, March 9, 2016

“This really happened. I went off to college and there was an overcrowding in the dorm thing. And they put us in two houses they had donated. And we’re all looking at each other like, 'Good Lord this is "Animal House,"'" Linklater said.

It was that life experiences that also gave him the title of the film.

“We had a working title called 'That’s What I’m Talking About,'" said Linklater. “But no one got it. I had that and then 'Everybody Wants Some' was my backup title because that’s more specific. It’s a Van Halen song."

And exactly what is that "some" that everybody wants?

“Because being that age, I look back at that, you just want everything,” said Linklater. "Not only do you want everything, you kind of think you’re entitled to it. You know, your youthful desire should be met by the world."

He continued: “But then life has a way of kind of letting you know that it’s not going to give you everything you want. It might give you a little bit of what you want. But these guys in the movie are kind of in that wonderful bubble. Life hasn’t really slapped them down just yet.”