MEGALOPOLIS Director Francis Ford Coppola Didn't Want Movie To Be "Deemed Some Woke Hollywood Production"

MEGALOPOLIS Director Francis Ford Coppola Didn't Want Movie To Be "Deemed Some Woke Hollywood Production"

Megalopolis director Francis Ford Coppola has come in for more backlash, this time for suggesting that he set out to cast "cancelled" actors in his sci-fi epic...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 27, 2024 10:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Sci-Fi
Source: Via SFF Gazette

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 put that theory to the test!

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" (recent BTS footage would seem to back this up).

More recently, a final trailer was released highlighting negative reviews that were later revealed to be AI-generated (the teaser was pulled shortly after).

Now, Coppola has continued to stir up controversy thanks to comments he made during an interview with 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.”

Among others, Coppola is referring to Transformers star Shia LaBeouf, who was accused of - and later admitted to - horrific and sustained 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. Do you plan on checking it out? Let us know in the comments section down below.

"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.

MEGALOPOLIS' CinemaScore Is WORSE Than Any Superhero Movie Ever Released In Theaters
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MEGALOPOLIS' CinemaScore Is WORSE Than Any Superhero Movie Ever Released In Theaters

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foreverintheway
foreverintheway - 8/27/2024, 10:14 AM
Is that why dude was smoochin' people left and right on set? Cause he hates woke?!
MisterBones
MisterBones - 8/27/2024, 10:15 AM
That must be why he was creepily kissing all those extras
bobevanz
bobevanz - 8/27/2024, 10:17 AM
Some of them aren't canceled, they're irrelevant lmao. I'll see it either way
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/27/2024, 10:19 AM
If they're still getting work...they aren't cancelled. F*ckwit.
dracula
dracula - 8/27/2024, 11:34 AM
@PutinsGooch - well Shia’s roles are pretty few and far between

Dont think ive seen him in anything since his supporting role in that Brad Pitt/Logan lerman war movie (cant remember the name)
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 8/27/2024, 12:42 PM
@PutinsGooch - He said cancelled at one point or another. Stars who are cancelled go through a downpoint in their career but they often rise up again. See Liam Neeson.
Deklipz
Deklipz - 8/27/2024, 12:45 PM
@dracula - He’s been in quite a bit since fury as well as doing theater work and helping young actors in less privileged areas have opportunities they otherwise wouldn’t have had. By all accounts he’s done a lot to turn things around.
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 8/27/2024, 1:24 PM
@Nightwing1015 - good point
newhire13
newhire13 - 8/27/2024, 10:21 AM
I can’t stand people who throw out the word “woke” when they clearly have no clue what it actually means. It’s just a stupid buzz word at this point
TheyDont
TheyDont - 8/27/2024, 10:32 AM
@newhire13 - A stupid word for stupid thing
ItsNotForMeWahh
ItsNotForMeWahh - 8/27/2024, 11:02 AM
@newhire13 - User Comment Image
RegularPoochie
RegularPoochie - 8/27/2024, 11:14 AM
@ItsNotForMeWahh - LMFAO!
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 8/27/2024, 12:44 PM
@newhire13 - I agree the term hardly has any specificity or relevance anymore. But I think it's pretty clear what he meant from the context of the quote. A film that morally grandstands or talks down to the viewer.
SATW42
SATW42 - 8/27/2024, 10:28 AM
OK< I saw this headline somewhere else and rolled my eyes, but now that it's here I was curious and actually read the article. I didn't know the cast so I just looked it up.

Shia and Hoffman are the only two I can think of that were "cancelled" and Shia admitted to his wrong doings so yeah, he paid the consequences. Hoffman has multiple sexual harrassment claims against him but never stopped working, he booked a broadway gig while accusations were swirling, how is that cancelled?

I know Jon Vought is a dickhead but I don't remember him getting cancelled.

It's a huge cast and he claims he hired certain actors to not appear woke but the cast list doesn't seem to back up his claim. Anyone else know what's up here? am I missing someoneone else who was cancelled that's in this?
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/27/2024, 10:34 AM
@SATW42 - Cancelled simply refers to people who've acted in a sh*try way or said sh*tty things and then moan about not getting as much work because they arent willing to accept responsibility for their own actions/words.

I've yet to see evidence of anyone who has ever actually been 'cancelled'. It's another gammon term, much like 'woke' at this point.
SATW42
SATW42 - 8/27/2024, 10:36 AM
@PutinsGooch - I completely understand that, but the only actor I would classify even by those terms is Shia. I just don't understand what he's talking about.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/27/2024, 10:36 AM
@SATW42 - maybe this interview is the controversy? Like just saying it is to spark the outrage. Most people seem more worried about the sexual harassment than anything.
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/27/2024, 10:37 AM
@SATW42 - There is no such thing as cancel culture. It's right wing nonsense as a result of people no longer tolerating intolerance. It's poppers paradox.
SATW42
SATW42 - 8/27/2024, 10:38 AM
@PutinsGooch - again, I understand that lol. But he said he hired actorS, plural. Who else fits this bill, even if it's imaginary.

I'm saying I don't know WHO he's talking about.
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/27/2024, 10:39 AM
@SATW42 - I think you pretty much covered them in your first post.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/27/2024, 4:04 PM
@PutinsGooch - If there's np such thing as cancel culture why is Bryan Singer or Joss Whedon no longer making movies? Can Ezra be Flash again after all?
Radders
Radders - 8/28/2024, 2:55 AM
@PutinsGooch - "There's no such thing as cancel culture" is the standard gas lighting defense, there are countless cases of people loosing their jobs for "wrong think"

However, someone who has abused another person isn't a victim of cancel culture, that is a consequence of their actions
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/28/2024, 3:39 AM
@ObserverIO - um...are you implying Singer and Whedon's actions DON'T warrant them losing their reputation and career? This isn't cancel culture. This is people not being employed because of horrific behaviour.
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/28/2024, 3:40 AM
@Radders - Give me an example of 'wrongthink'.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/28/2024, 4:05 AM
@PutinsGooch - That is exactly cancel culture. Ergo it exists.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/28/2024, 4:09 AM
@PutinsGooch - Both Whedon and Singer are talented and successful directors. The only reason they are not working is cancel culture.

What you're talking about is accountability. We call that the Criminal Justice System. If they committed a crime then let them serve their time and then get back to work. That's accountability.
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/28/2024, 6:00 AM
@ObserverIO - Is that how you define 'cancel culture'? Are you seriously trying to argue that people losing their reputations and/or careers over wrongdoings, whether justified or not, is a new thing and perpetrated solely by the left?
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 8/28/2024, 8:18 AM
@PutinsGooch - I don't know where you're getting this left/right thing from, it doesn't seem to be politicized in that way at all.

But yes, that and the social aspect is how I define cancel culture. How would you define cancel culture?
Radders
Radders - 8/30/2024, 8:57 AM
@PutinsGooch - biological fact
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 8/30/2024, 9:14 AM
@Radders - what??
Radders
Radders - 9/4/2024, 8:40 AM
@PutinsGooch - People stating a "belief" in biological fact have been sacked for not adhering to the received and permissible opinion - hence wrong think
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 9/9/2024, 4:51 PM
@Radders - what are you referring to?
Radders
Radders - 9/11/2024, 8:44 AM
@PutinsGooch - I think you know
PutinsGooch
PutinsGooch - 10/1/2024, 4:05 AM
@Radders - climate change?
Radders
Radders - 10/2/2024, 8:36 AM
@PutinsGooch - Well people who question climate change are automatically considered to be conspiracy theorists and deniers, one campaigner did ask for it to be illegal to question climate change, but that's not biology.

Multiple people who have "gender critical" views have been cancelled, certainly here in the UK. There were also over 3000 arrests last year for that sort of thing.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 8/27/2024, 10:33 AM
Idk if this feels so controversial, at least to me it doesn't. I think woke is a weird topic overall so his reasoning I don't understand if he has both conservatives and progressives. But giving people another chance is a-ok in my book most of the time.

It's the rest of the train Wreck that's a much bigger issue.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 8/27/2024, 10:36 AM
User Comment Image
EgoEgor
EgoEgor - 8/27/2024, 10:43 AM
Woke has just become a pejorative for progressive ideas. If you think those progressive ideas are preachy and in your face, then that's just bad writing; much like hallmark or Christian movies. Call it what it is, preachy; but that's labeling the actual problem instead of attacking progressive ideas.
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 8/27/2024, 11:29 AM
@EgoEgor - I don't think progressive ideas and woke are the same thing. Progressive ideas themselves are fine. "Wokeness" is the corporatized, overly preachy, shoehorning of far left ideas into places where they don't need to be. It's like we're all having a good time at Thanksgiving stuffing our bellies, and the one college kid with purple hair is telling us there are starving kids in Africa right now who can't eat, and also a turkey is an innocent animal why are we eating slaughtered innocent flesh.

Does she have a point? Maybe, but right now we're sitting as a family enjoying a meal. That's how we feel about the modern trend of "wokeness". It takes one POV (far left) no room for other opinions, and it clunkily forces those opinions in action films, comic book movies, and even comedies.

When companies like Black Rock publicly state "We have to force behaviors" and you know the companies they're over basically get high marks for featuring these things in their productions you know it's not organic. It's disingenuous, hamfisted, preachy, hypocritical, propaganda disguised as compassion and progressive thought.

I don't expect any so called display of compassion from these soulless multi billion dollar companies to be anything other than b.s. The public largely agrees no matter how much it's spent. Look at the game Dustborn that just released. It's being trashed left and right (literally) Not just because it's a bland game. But because it's preachy garbage. At the same time a game many described as "Anti-Woke" (Which it isn't) Black Myth Wukong is literally dominating right now. Not to mention the other massive failures the "woke" trend has had on many modern films and shows.

The takeaway, sometimes people just want to be entertained. If I wanted a lecture I'd join a course. If I wanted a sermon I'd go to church.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/27/2024, 11:48 AM
@DarthOmega - the "corporatized" aspect is so key. Well stated.
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