Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola did not want to make a “woke” film

The presence of actors who were sidelined for various reasons in the film was explained by the director.

Megalopolis hasn't finished making headlines even before its release. After the hot affair of the trailer full of fake reviews generated by artificial intelligence, the film by Francis Ford Coppola continues to fuel controversy.

Interviewed by Rolling Stonethe director returned to the presence of several boycotted actors in supporting roles. For him, this choice was deliberate:

“What I didn't want to happen is for us to be seen as a 'woke' Hollywood production that would preach to the audience. The cast includes people who have been boycotted at one time or another. There are people who are arch-conservatives and others who are fiercely politically engaged. But we all worked on the same film together. That's what's interesting, I think.”

On the one hand, there is Jon Voight (which Coppola had already directed in The Idealist), a fervent supporter of former US President Donald Trump. His political beliefs, leaning towards the extreme right, are well known and have caused him many conflicts with his daughter Angelina Jolie. On the other hand, Shia LaBeouf, performing in Megalopolis Cesar's (Adam Driver) cousin. The latter has been in legal proceedings since 2020 following the complaint of physical and sexual assault filed against him by his ex-girlfriend, FKA Twigs (The Crow). A first trial should be held on October 14. Without forgetting Dustin Hoffmanaccused of similar acts on the set of the serial adaptation of Death of a traveling salesmanfrom a trainee who was 17 years old at the time of the events.

Regarding Shia LaBeouf, Francis Ford Coppola did not hide the tensions that existed between them on the set for a purely creative purpose:

“In that sense, he reminds me of Dennis Hopper (editor’s note: which Coppola directed in Apocalypse Now), who was doing something similar. So you were saying 'Go ahead, do what you want', and then he would go off and do something brilliant.”

By bringing together a wide range of actors, Francis Ford Coppola explains that he wants to start a conversation to build the future – which is, in reality, the object of the film:

“What I want for this film is for it to start a discussion. You can't have a utopia without that.”

The presence of these actors is not the only source of controversy surrounding Megalopolis. Recently, the director himself was singled out for inappropriate behavior during filming. Videos shared by Variety showed him kissing extras during a nightclub scene.

Megalopolis: Videos of Francis Ford Coppola's inappropriate behavior published

Since then, the director has continued to deny the facts concerning the chaos reigning on the set. Facing the journalist of Rolling Stone, he replied:

“You're talking about the Guardian article, which is totally false. (…) It's totally ridiculous. Look at the date the article was published. It's just before the Cannes premiere. They're trying to undermine the film.”

Here the director seems to be hinting at the fact that he financed it himself Megalopolis and produced without the help of other traditional Hollywood studios. According to him, this acquired freedom would be one of the reasons for the sabotage of his latest feature film.

Megalopolis is released in theaters in France on September 25.

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