Francis Ford Coppola’s long-running — and self-financed — sci-fi epic Megalopolis is in jeopardy, say insiders close to the film, citing mass crew strikes and a rapidly skyrocketing budget midway through production.
Starring big names like Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf, the sizzling film centers on an architect trying to rebuild New York City after a disaster.
Having self-funded the $120 million passion project, the legendary director is now at risk of missing a strict March deadline, sources said, and is making a slew of changes to salvage the production.
The frantic, last-ditch effort comes halfway through the film’s 80- to 90-day shoot, and when the set — located in urban Atlanta — has descended into “chaos.”
Coppola is no stranger to this sort of mess, though – he famously encountered problems during the filming of his masterpiece Apocalypse Now, during which the 83-year-old director feared the film might end up being a “failure” because of the problems.
Having self-funded the $120 million passion project, the legendary director is now at risk of missing his March deadline, sources said, and is making a number of changes to salvage the production
Coppola is no stranger to a chaotic set, having notoriously run into troubles while filming his seminal masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. The director is seen here filming the groundbreaking war film in the Philippines in 1976, more than 50 years ago
But that was more than 50 years ago, and times have changed since Coppola’s seminal masterpiece.
Speaking anonymously to The Hollywood Reporter, sources described how the director – who has never made an effects-heavy film – had first tried using costly virtual technology seen in productions like The Mandalorian before costs got out of control.
To salvage Coppola’s bottom line, the crews have reportedly reverted to more traditional green screens, making what the filmmaker touted as a philosophical “love story” likely less visually stunning than he intended.
Sources also revealed that the five-time Academy Award winner, whose impressive body of work includes the Godfather trilogy and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, fired nearly his entire visual effects team on filming just last month.
Multiple Stars: The four Greek-inspired actresses all stood in a circle and chatted (left to right: Nathalie Emmanuel, Chloe Fineman, Madeleine Gardella and Isabelle Kusman)
The story of Megalopolis is described as “an architect intent on rebuilding New York City as a utopia after a devastating catastrophe,” but the 82-year-old filmmaker calls his dream project “a love story.”
“A woman is a divided loyalty to two men. But not just two men. Every man has a philosophical principle,” Francis told GQ in February.
“One is her father, who raised her, who taught her Latin on his lap, and who embraced a much more classical view of society, the view of Marcus Aurelius. The other, the lover, is the father’s enemy but is dedicated to a much more progressive “Let’s jump to the future, let’s jump over all this garbage that has plagued mankind for 10,000 years. Let’s find what we really are, who are an enlightened, kind, happy species.”
Logline: The storyline of Megalopolis is described as “an architect intent on rebuilding New York City as a utopia after a devastating catastrophe,” but the 82-year-old filmmaker calls his dream project “a love story.”
Coppola – who has wanted to make Megalopolis since 1982 – sold part of his wine empire to self-finance the film, which will be the first to be shot on Prysm Stages’ LED stage.
The legendary Godfather director also cast his younger sister Talia Shire, nephew Jason Schwartzman and Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman (despite sexual assault allegations that have resurfaced).
Francis’ star-studded cast also includes Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Forest Whitaker, Aubrey Plaza, Adam Driver, Grace VanderWaal, James Remar and DB Sweeney.
“State of the art technology”: Coppola – who has wanted to make Megalopolis since 1982 – sold part of his wine empire to self-finance the film, which will be the first to be shot on Prysm Stages’ LED tape stage