They say no publicity is bad publicity, but the sheer amount of negative press that's been generated by legendary director Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi epic, Megalopolis, in the build-up to its release might be pushing it!
There were already stories about behind-the-scenes turmoil during the production of the $120 million+ movie, and following a decidedly mixed reception after its Cannes premiere, more reports of Coppola's troubling on-set behaviour emerged. Among other things, it's said that the director chose to sit in his trailer smoking weed for hours on end while the cast and crew were waiting to film. He has also been accused of pulling scantily clad or naked female extras onto his lap and attempting to kiss them to "get them in the mood."
More recently, a trailer was released highlighting AI-generated negative reviews.
Now, Coppola has stirred up even more controversy while speaking to Rolling Stone.
“What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” the filmmaker 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.”
Coppola is referring to the likes of Shia LaBeouf, who was accused of horrific physical, sexual and mental assault by ex-girlfriend and The Crow star FKA twigs.
“Shia [LaBeouf] really took to it,” Coppola added. “I had no experience working with him prior to this, but he deliberately sets up a tension between himself and the director to an extreme degree. He reminds me of Dennis Hopper, who would do something similar, and then you’d say, ‘Just go do anything,’ and then they go off and do something brilliant."
Megalopolis currently sits at 53% on Rotten Tomatoes with 68 reviews counted. It's set to hit U.S. theaters on September 27.
"An accident destroys a New York City-like metropolis already in decay. Caesar, an idealist, aims to rebuild the city as a sustainable utopia, while the venal mayor, Frank Cicero, has other plans. Coming between the opposing men and their visions is Frank’s socialite daughter, Julia. Tired of the attention and power she was born with, Julia searches for her life’s meaning."
Megalopolis stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, and D.B. Sweeney.