‘Megalopolis’, the new Francis Ford Coppola, in crisis: inflated budget and exodus of artistic staff

Francis Ford Coppola’s latest project, ‘Megalopolis’, is plunged into real chaos. The film, which is already halfway through shooting in Atlanta, lost all creative talent in the last week, including the production designer and the supervising art director, counting on the fact that he had already left in early December without the entire special effects team.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that Coppola, who has never made a film with major special effects, fired nearly the entire team in that department on Dec. 9, including special effects supervisor Mark Russell, a credited veteran of films such as “The Wolf”. of Wall Street’; Beth Mickle, the production designer, or David Scott, the supervising art director. Between layoffs and resignations, says a source the film right now is without an art department.

“The Art Directors Guild supports the entire department in getting the right material, organizing and reviewing the situation with ‘Megalopolis’ to determine next steps” confirmed one of the spokesmen of the union, who also represents the set designers, “At this point we have no further comments”. Moreover, one of the representatives of the dismissed assures it Being on set was absolute chaos. Despite the team’s departure, Coppola is reportedly pushing to hire new staff this week.

In their own way

‘Megalopolis’ was a project that the director had a real passion for for decades and it finally started to take shape in the fall of 2021 when it was confirmed that it would be a $120 million film self-financed by Coppola himself. According to insiders, the production is giving off ‘Apocalypse Now’ vibes and it’s because the octogenarian director is breaking one of the basic rules of Hollywood: never spend your money.

In March 2022, Coppola told The Hollywood Reporter he would finance the film with his own money to make it the way he wanted: “Everyone has an idea of ​​what a film should be like, which carries over to other people. People can be very intolerant, but a lot of times the other idea can represent what’s coming in the future. That’s why it’s worth considering. ” .

Coppola has a cast full of stars, including figures like Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel or Forest Whitaker. The film centers on an architect who appears to rebuild New York as a utopia after a disaster. Sources say that Coppola initially used a new virtual production like the one used in “The Mandalorian”, but due to rising costs and challenges, the same sources confirm that production tends to be less expensive and with a more traditional approach. An executive producer claims it “There are no good answers here. Coppola will spend a lot more money than he thought. You can imagine how much he has already spent. It would be a waste of money not to finish it.”