Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola says he cast canceled actors so as not to seem 'woke'

The film hits Brazilian theaters on October 31

Image Credit: Lionsgate Films

Megalopolis hits Brazilian theaters in October with an all-star cast, headed by Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, among others. In an interview with Rolling Stones, the director stated that the choice of some names in the cast was so that the film would not seem 'woke' or a Hollywood sermon. "What I didn't want to happen is for us to be considered a 'woke' Hollywood production, which is simply giving viewers a sermon," he stated. 

"The cast has people who have been canceled at one point or another. Some people were conservative and others were extremely progressive politically. But we were all working on a movie together. That was interesting," reflected Coppola, who is already working on two more films. Coppola will release Megalopolis in September in the US, and then on October 31 in Brazil. We watched Megalopolis at the Cannes Film Festival and you can check out our review below.

Megalopolis has been surrounded by some controversies. One is about Coppola himself, who allegedly kissed extras inappropriately during filming. One of them, however, came out in defense of the director. Another situation occurred when it was noticed that a trailer for Megalopolis released by Lionsgate, responsible for the film in the US, included quotes from negative reviews of Coppola's films that were actually false. The studio then removed the trailer from the air and fired the person responsible for generating the quotes with AI.

Adam Driver stars in the film, with Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Fineman, Isabelle Kusman, DB Sweeney, Bailey Ives and The Godfather veteran Talia Shire rounding out the cast. The film follows César (Adam Driver), a visionary architect who wants to rebuild New York as a utopia after a disaster destroys the city. He battles the mayor, played by Giancarlo Esposito, and in a Shakespearean twist, is in love with his rival's daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel). 

The two families are rivals, and their vision for the future of New York differs. Coppola directed the film, independently financing the $120 million budget with his own money, and is the screenwriter. Originally, Oscar Isaac was supposed to star. The film has been a dream of Coppola, now 84, for more than 20 years. The budget is approximately $100 million, and the director is investing some of his own money to reach that figure. Like many of Coppola's projects, there are plenty of stories of chaos behind the scenes.