Alexander Payne Hopes ‘Election’ Sequel Won’t Be for Paramount+: ‘I Don’t Want to Do That Anymore’

Alexander Payne is voting for his “Election” (1999) sequel to get a theatrical release, despite it being set up at streamer Paramount+.

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While discussing the followup film “Tracy Flick Can’t Win,” the director told Deadline that he doesn’t “want to do [streaming-only releases] anymore.” The sequel to the cult classic was announced in December 2022, with lead-actress Reese Witherspoon reprising her titular role and also producing.

There’s just one problem with Payne’s POV.

“All I know is the deal was made for Paramount+, which is for streaming, and I don’t want to do that anymore. I like theatrical,” Payne said at the Sarajevo Film Festival. “You know, everybody gets dollar signs in their eyes when they hear about streaming, and I’m more interested in theatrical movies.”

The writer/director added that the theatrical marketplace has “always been a struggle for more human films,” particularly mid-budget adult dramas.

“Election,” which also starred Matthew Broderick, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. “Election” sequel “Tracy Flick Can’t Win” is based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name. The story revisits Tracy Flick (Witherspoon) as an adult now working as an assistant principal at a public high school in New Jersey, where she is still fighting for the top job.

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Payne will direct the feature and co-write the adaptation with Jim Taylor. Payne revealed that the duo are “still conceiving” the script but that Witherspoon is still attached to the project.

Witherspoon is producing via her Hello Sunshine banner alongside Lauren Neustadter, as will Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa for Bona Fide Productions, which produced the original “Election” and Payne’s “Nebraska.” Perrotta, who also penned “Little Children,” “The Leftovers,” and “Mrs. Fletcher,” is executive producing.

In addition to “Tracy Flick Can’t Win,” Payne is also working on a Western film. He is reuniting with “The Holdovers” scribe David Hemingson for that script, which he said is “about 20 bad pages in.”

Payne previously said that “Election” has the best pacing for a script, and that the film “has got a very good metronome, [almost] sharklike.”

“Film is a constant search for economy,” Payne said at the 2023 Middleburg Film Festival . “You want the screenplay as short as possible. You want the acting as brisk as possible, given whatever the basic rhythm of that film is. And then in the editing you want it to be as short as it can possibly be, but no shorter.”