Since Todd Solondz’s breakout 1995 film Welcome To The Dollhouse, fans have long wondered what became of its central character, seventh-grade social pariah Dawn Weiner—besides growing into a vivacious and self-assured young lady, of course. Solondz himself seemed to have answered that question in 2004’s Palindromes, which opened with a funeral for Dawn after she’d gone off to college, gotten fat, become pregnant, and committed suicide. But now, like Heather Matarazzo before him, Solondz seems to be reneging on that outcome: The Hollywood Reporter says that Dawn Weiner may indeed live again in his upcoming Weiner-Dog.
Rather than a straight sequel, Weiner-Dog is—as all of life’s stories are—“tied together thematically by a dachshund,” who spreads comfort, joy, and dachshund farts among one of Solondz’s usual ensemble casts. Part of that ensemble will be Dawn Weiner, played this time by Greta Gerwig, as the film check in with the awkward 11-year-old as an awkward, but more of a Greta Gerwig-awkward adult.
The Master producer Megan Ellison is currently backing the project, which also has Julie Delpy in talks for an unspecified role, and THR cautions that plans are still in the early stages. But if it all comes together, we could at long last find out what happened to Dawn Weiner. And if not, we can just go back to thinking she’s dead.