Topline
Francis Ford Coppola’s nearly 50-year passion project, “Megalopolis,” has finally materialized and will premiere at Cannes this week—but the film’s arrival has been marred by allegations of inappropriate behavior by the director on set, a near-disastrous production and a continued struggle to find a U.S. distributor.
Francis Ford Coppola self-financed "Megalopolis" after refining the screenplay for decades. (Photo ... [+]
Key Facts
“Megalopolis,” an upcoming film directed by the 85-year-old Coppola with a star-studded cast including Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza, will premiere Thursday at the Cannes film festival.
A report in The Guardian published Tuesday, citing anonymous sources, said Coppola was “old school” with his treatment of women on set, claiming he had in one instance pulled women to sit on his lap, and in another instance, tried to kiss topless female extras to “get them in the mood.”
The Guardian also reported Coppola would waste excessive amounts of time on set, often smoking marijuana in his trailer while the cast and crew would wait for hours, and crew members said Coppola would frequently change his mind about shoots and sometimes arrived to set without a plan.
The Hollywood Reporter previously reported Coppola had fired nearly all the visual effects team in December 2022 and other leading members of the art department quit, with one source calling the set “absolute madness.”
The film still does not have a U.S. distributor, and efforts to find one have not yet succeeded, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which quoted one distributor as saying there’s “no way to position this movie,” and others who felt it is a hard sell to audiences.
“Megalopolis” took decades to come to fruition until Coppola decided to finance the entire $120 million project by himself, and he told Vanity Fair he “must have rewritten it 300 times.”
Contra
Some of the film’s cast and crew have defended Coppola amid suggestions that he behaved inappropriately or oversaw a tumultuous environment on set. Co-producer Darren Demetre told The Guardian that over two days on set, Coppola gave “kind hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background players” to “establish the spirit of the scene,” which was set at a club, adding he was not aware of any complaints of harassment or inappropriate behavior. Plaza, in an interview with Deadline, praised Coppola and said she “felt so inspired by” him, though she added he would frequently change his mind on a moment’s notice: “All of a sudden, he would have another idea. And then all of a sudden, we’re shooting in a different location we didn’t even plan to shoot,” Plaza said. Driver called filming “Megalopolis” the “best shooting experience I’ve ever had” in an interview with Collider, adding that because Coppola had financed the entire production, he was in control of the whole shoot. Coppola responded to reports that he had fired most of the visual effects team days later, telling Deadline he had let go of some of the crew to manage costs as he decided it was more cost-effective to leave some visual effects work for post-production. He criticized the reports that suggested it was a tumultuous set, stating: “To them, I say, ha, ha, just wait and see,” praising the film’s cast.
Tangent
Reports suggest that initial reactions to screenings of the film have been mixed. A studio head who saw a screening of the film told The Hollywood Reporter it is “so not good, and it was so sad watching it,” adding it is “not how Coppola should end his directing career.” An attendee of a screening for distributors told The Hollywood Reporter there was a “conspicuous silence” at the end of the screening. Another executive who saw the film called it “batsh*t crazy,” The Guardian reported. Director Gregory Nava, however, called it a “visionary masterpiece” and said that Coppola “is pushing the boundaries of cinema.” Coppola responded to the early mixed reactions, telling The Daily Beast it is “exactly what happened with ‘Apocalypse Now’ 40 years ago,” referencing his 1979 film that is now regarded as a classic, adding that “Megalopolis” will “stand the test of time.” “Apocalypse Now” famously had a turbulent production—including natural disasters and a near-fatal heart attack for star Martin Sheen—and reactions were mixed upon release.
What To Watch For
How critics will receive the film once it premieres at Cannes on Thursday—and how long a potential standing ovation may be, a traditional marker of success at the festival. “Megalopolis” has been listed among the most anticipated films premiering at Cannes by Rolling Stone and IndieWire.
Key Background
Coppola reportedly started collecting ideas and writing for a script that would eventually become “Megalopolis” in the 1980s, following a streak of directing some of Hollywood’s most iconic films: “The Godfather” (1972), “The Godfather Part II” (1974) and “Apocalypse Now” (1979). He told Vanity Fair he had long been collecting a scrapbook of ideas before settling on a “Roman epic set in modern America,” and he worked on the screenplay over the last “dozen years or so.” The film, set in an imagined city following a disaster, follows Driver as an idealist architect who clashes with the city’s mayor, played by Giancarlo Esposito, a corrupt leader, according to its summary on the Cannes website.
Further Reading
‘Has this guy ever made a movie before?’ Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-year battle to film Megalopolis (The Guardian)
Why 'wild' sci-fi epic Megalopolis could be Francis Ford Coppola's $120m mistake (BBC)
Francis Ford Coppola Responds to ‘Megalopolis’ Uproar: Exactly What Happened With ‘Apocalypse Now’ (The Daily Beast)
