Deadline and Variety, both owned by Jay Pense, are attacking each other over whether Francis Ford Coppola was a “predator” on the set of “Megalopolis.” Bet you didn’t have this story showing up on your 2024 bingo card.
Variety reported last week that “Megalopolis” director Coppola was seen kissing extras on the set of his movie. The trade published this with exclusive video of Coppola planting one on an extra.
Earlier in the week, Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. slammed Variety’s reporting, personally attacking them, writing that their hit piece was “published for clicks”. Fleming reached out to the extra in the Variety video, Reyna Menz, who refuted the whole thing, saying it was all innocent, and that she was appalled there even was a video shot. Menz added that Coppola’s late wife, Eleanor, was almost always on the set.
For Deadline to attack Variety’s journalism in public, that’s wild. They work in the same building in California.
Now, Variety has shot back and published a rebuttal. They’ve found another extra, but this one claims having felt uncomfortable and “shocked” after Coppola kissed her on the cheek during the film’s Bacchanalia club scene, which is where Coppola’s kisses were said to have taken place.
There’s a bit of history here. Deadline’s Fleming had originally been invited to the first screening of “Megalopolis” back in March in LA. It was his exclusive, and he was the only journalist there. He raved about it, and reported of a highly enthusiastic reaction. However, this was followed, a few days later, by Penske’s Hollywood Reporter and Variety reporting the opposite — declaring that the reception was muted and the movie “unreleaseable”.
Lionsgate is releasing “Megalopolis,” which stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf, domestically on September 27. Two weeks ago, it was set to screen at the Toronto International Film Festival — it still hasn’t been announced by TIFF. Let’s hope it wasn’t pulled from the lineup.