After years of pushback and development hell, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is finally set to begin production soon. With the film already in pre-production, filming will take place in Fayetteville, Georgia at Trilith Studios in November and will continue until March 2023, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The cast of the film will include Adam Driver, known for his role as Kylo Ren in the newest Star Wars trilogy, alongside Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones), Jon Voight who previously collaborated with Coppola in Rainmaker, and Laurence Fishburne who also collaborated with the acclaimed filmmaker in Apocalypse Now.
Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Academy Award-winning director Coppola is responsible for bringing to life some of the most acclaimed films ever made such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Development of Megalopolis dates all the way back to the 1980s. The film will center on an architect's attempt to reconstruct New York City after a larger disaster hits the city. After years of development alongside a cast of acclaimed actors, Megalopolis could potentially be a great sendoff to the legendary career of Coppola.
Alongside the current cast of the film, there were previous reports that Oscar Isaac, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Zendaya were in negotiations to star in Megalopolis. However, it currently remains unknown if they are still attached to the project. It was also reported that the late James Caan was in talks to appear in the film before his tragic passing. Several factors would delay the film until 2001 with promising signs for the film as Coppola began shooting over 30 hours of second-unit footage. However, the film was pushed back even more when the September 11 attacks occurred, causing the project to be overhauled.
Despite over 20 years passing, Coppola is still committed to Megalopolis and is finally gearing up the long-gestating film for the big screen. Alongside writing and directing, Coppola will also be self-financing the movie, so he can finally bring his passion project to life. Whether the 40 years of waiting will be worth it remains unknown, but with Coppola at the helm, Megalopolis could be a great sendoff to the legendary career of the one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.
Since the project is still in its pre-production stage, no release date for the film has been set yet. Check out our interview with Driver on House of Gucci below: