Francis Ford Coppola tells Rolling Stone that he had very specific intentions when it came to writing, directing and casting “Megalopolis.”
If you didn’t already notice, the cast includes controversial, some would say “canceled,” actors such as Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, and Dustin Hoffman. When asked about their participation in the film, Coppola didn’t mince words.
“What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” Coppola said. “The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another. There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.”
Regardless, it’s not just the “Megalopolis” actors who are causing a stir. Coppola has been embroiled in his own kind of controversy. Ever since “Megalopolis” went into production in November 2023, Coppola has had to deal with a hostile Hollywood press that, by the looks of it, seems to have a major grudge with him and the film.
Coppola tells Rolling Stone that the latest allegations against him, that he kissed extras against their will, are “totally untrue” and were purposefully made public to “damage” the release of the film.
“You’re talking about the Guardian piece, which is totally untrue. If you read that piece, you’ll realize that whoever the sources were — and I honestly don’t know who the sources were — it’s the same people who provided quotes for that Hollywood Reporter piece that said all these people were fired or resigned, and that there was a mass exodus, all of that,” Coppola said.
Coppola continued, “It’s all so ridiculous. Look at the timing of that article. It’s right before we’re about to premiere the film at Cannes. They’re just trying to damage the picture.”
You might be asking yourself, why would anyone want to damage the legendary Coppola and his passion project? He believes it’s because, in making “Megalopolis,” he’s not playing by the set studio rules, funding his own film and defying the studio system.
“There’s a prevailing tendency in Hollywood to say, if you follow our rules, you’ll have a better chance of a success. ‘Well, what about Francis? He doesn’t follow your rules,'” he said. “‘Well, look, what’s going to happen to him, he’s going to have a failure’ I’m trying to do something different here. Film is change. I mean, the movies that your grandchildren are going to make are going to be nothing like what we see now.”
Back in May, I had written about a chat that I had with a producer friend who claimed that there was definitely a “conspiracy” out there to destroy Coppola. The steady stream of hit pieces against Coppola surely hinted at something insidious.
This is nothing more of a smear campaign from frightened studios who don't appreciate his threat to their business models. It’s a conspiracy to destroy him.
“Megalopolis” is set to have its North American premiere at TIFF next month, and will, finally, be released theatrically on September 27.