Finally, this weekend, Francis Ford Coppola published Megalopolis. The film that the Italian-American filmmaker pursued all his life and which today, with money from your own pockethas just been screened in theaters around the world. All this to the amazement of international critics who described it as a grandiose failure. But beyond the expectation of having a new story from the director of The godfatherthe film with Adam Driver ended up making the news more time for the extra-filmic than by the artistic performance of its author. For this reason and taking advantage of its arrival in theaters, we would like to do a retrospective below with the five controversies the most important moments surrounding the six-time Oscar winner’s latest utopian dream:
The 5 controversies of “Mégalopolis”
1-A “Coppola” shooting
The filming of a film as ambitious as Megalopolis It can never be simple. Even less if it is a project that Coppola himself has wanted to carry out since almost half a century ago. Initially, the director had to sell a large part of his vines to inject the $120 million initial budget of the film.
The first controversy arose just after the start of filming, when various sources assured that the filming was it’s absolute chaos. A circumstance which did not worry too much the fans of the cinematographic reference of the 70s, since it concerns the man who succeeded in directing Apocalypse now And Presentiment. In early 2023, it was reported that those responsible for the technical and artistic area had left the set, as well as the production designer and art director, losing several key positions in the development of the recording, which further increased the budget item from the film. A few days later, Coppola himself and Driver visited deny said organizational anarchyattributing the resignations to a simple change in artistic direction.
2-No distribution on the horizon
Last March, the director still had no official distributor for Megalopolis. However, a screening was organized for the team and those close to Coppola. After the credits, the applause was unanimous, but the grandiloquent applause from his most personal entourage guaranteed nothing. Furthermore, the absence at that time of a company that was willing to take the risk of putting it in theaters said much more than the opinions of his friends and family. Finally, Lions Gate took up the challenge in the United States and Spain, distribution is ensured by Triphotos.
3-Accusations of sexual harassment
A few hours after the official preview Megalopolis in Cannes, Tutor published a report in which the author was accused of having had a completely inappropriate behavior on stage with several dancers. According to the outlet, Coppola attempted to kiss some of the topless extras to “bring them into the environment”.
Refusing the middle finger several times and after a video posted by Variety where the director was seen in a supposedly inappropriate attitude, Rayna Menzone of the actresses in question, ended up denying on social networks the accusations with which the director was defamed. The last we know is that Coppola is suing the magazine for defamation, claiming at least $15 million in Los Angeles Superior Court.
4-The trailer with fake reviews
With the trajectory dragging, even the final trailer for Megalopolis this was to bring its own controversy. Thus, Lionsgate created promotional materials that attempted to alleviate the disastrous reviews the film had received in the French competition, specifically showing some of the negative reviews that Coppola’s previous great masterpieces had received. A few hours later, we discovered that these critics and media had never spoken in this way about the filmmaker’s work. The distributor He apologized and they removed the piece.
5-The megalomaniacal attitude of the director
The truth is that Coppola himself is already a pretty controversial guy with his statements and gestures on the networks. A few days ago, he assured that the United States would soon I was going to have an emperorbecause ultimately his works were always somewhat prophetic, showing themselves as an asset in the campaign against Donald Trump. A few days later, he used his Letterboxd account to give his latest film five stars. Something that has been seen as an internet meme, but somehow represents the megalomaniac attitude in a voice that hadn’t been in the industry spotlight in a long time.
