Even back when the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has been getting some very divisive reviews and comments—one particular thing that irked people ‘was the inclusion of ‘cancelled’ actors in the cast like Shia LaBeouf.
As it turns out, it was all by Coppola’s design. Talking to Variety, Coppola explained, “What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers… The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another. There were people who are are conservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.”
It is worth noting that LaBeouf had been ‘cancelled’ for a while, and has barely been starring in movies ever since accusations of him committing sexual battery came out online. While Coppola does praise him as an actor, he did admit that working with the former Transformers lead was ‘tense.’
Besides LaBeouf, the movie has also cast Jon Voight, who is also a staunch conservative and outspoken Trump supporter. Even Coppola himself has been accused of sexual misconduct on the set, with some saying that he had been pulling extras toward him and being inappropriate with them.
With Megalopolis getting critically panned at Cannes, a lot of fans are wondering what to expect with the wide release of the film. There was even said to be a segment where a live performer would go on stage and ask questions to Driver’s character onscreen. We don’t know how they’re going to change that for the theatrical release, but I’d salute any theater that hired a guy to pretend to ask Adam Driver questions with every screening.
MEGALOPOLIS is a Roman Epic set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
Megalopolis is set to release in theaters on Sept. 27.
