Director Cameron Crowe is not a fan of making sequels. “Say Anything,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, might be the exception.
The director tells USA TODAY he has always yearned to revisit his 1989 directorial debut.
Crowe, along with the romantic drama’s stars John Cusack, Ione Skye and executive producer James L. Brooks will appear at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival Monday to discuss “Say Anything.”
“I once told John Cusack, that is the only story I have told that I thought there could have been more,” Crowe says. “I haven’t wanted to continue any of the stories I’ve been lucky enough to tell. But ‘Say Anything’ feels so personal. I feel how that story could continue.”
“Say Anything” features underachieving Lloyd Dobler (Cusack) who falls for the class valedictorian Diane Court (Ione Skye). The improbable relationship flourishes, crashes and burns, and then is brought back to life after the film’s immortal moment — Dobler playing a jukebox serenade of Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” outside Court’s window.
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“In a way, I wish we made two or three more movies with Lloyd, or Lloyd and Diane. To me, (Lloyd) was a character who I could write many stages of life with,” Crowe says. “I have a tiny little regret that we haven’t we haven’t continued that story.”
Crowe has been especially inspired watching the way director Richard Linklater followed up on 1995’s “Before Sunrise” featuring lovers played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The three collaborated on two follow-ups centered around the on-screen relationship spanning nearly two decades with 2004’s “Before Sunset” and 2013’s “Before Midnight.”
“I love the way Linklater continued that story. When I talk about ‘Say Anything’ continuing, it’s been like name-checking Linklater as he did that, or thought it through,” Crowe says.
Crowe has told stories through his filmmaking career that feature various stages of life.
“And ‘Say Anything is the power of first love that never leaves you, it’s always just close to the surface,” he says.
The final “Say Anything” scene features Diane and Lloyd heading on a plane to England, where she will study. They grip each other’s hands on the plane in take-off, looking anxious and forward — an ode to “The Graduate.”
Crowe says he knows what became of the couple after they reached England.
“But I’ll never say. That kind of love is hard to give up. I’ll leave it at that,” he says. “And it is the first time that each of them have really fallen in love. That’s a seismic thing. Their English odyssey is an extension of how do you handle your first great love. Maybe your only great love.”
