The next epic, Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, reportedly cast performers who were “cancelled” deliberately because he didn’t want his movie to be dismissed as “some woke Hollywood production.” Coppola told Rolling Stone in a latest interview that he anticipates the film will start a discussion, even though the path leading up to Lionsgate’s Sept. 27 release has not been without controversy. These include reports of divisional disputes on set and divided opinions from critics during the film’s May Cannes premiere.
“What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” the director said. “The cast features people who were cancelled at one point or another. There were people who are arch conservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.”
Giancarlo Esposito and Nathalie Emmanuel play the protagonists in the expansive story, which Coppola based on a Roman epic and whose origins date back forty years. But what gets people talking is the choice of supporting performers like Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, and Shia LaBeouf. Singer-songwriter FKA Twigs (née Tahliah Debrett Barnett), who once called her relationship with the actor the “worst thing I’ve ever been through in the whole of my life,” is currently suing LaBeouf over claims of sexual and physical assault. Twigs claims that the actor kept a loaded gun by their bed and forced her to watch films of killed women. October 14 is the date of the trial.
Hoffman also faced allegations of sexual harassment from a 17-year-old apprentice he worked with on the shooting of the television movie Death of a Salesman in 1985. Voight’s strong support of former President Donald Trump and his far-right views, on the other hand, have caused friction in his volatile relationship with daughter Angelina Jolie.
“This steers me toward politics, and my publicist will yell at me if I start talking about politics,” he said. “This movie won’t cure our ills. But I honestly believe that what will save us is the fact that we’ve got to talk about the future. We want to be able to ask any questions we have to ask in order to really look at why this country is divided right now, and that’s going to provide an energy that will defeat those people who want to destroy our republic. I made this film to contribute to that. And all I want is for this movie to start a conversation. You can’t have a utopia without a conversation.”