Given that Francis Ford Coppola‘s independently-financed $100 million-plus budgeted passion project film “Megalopolis,” is one he’s been talking about for over two decades at least—a project he once abandoned and only recently came back to —when news arrived that Oscar Isaac had ultimately passed on the lead role, it made lots of cinephiles dying to see the project very nervous. Well, chalk that set back up to a blip as the director of “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now” has not only found a new leading man, but a whole new supporting cast as well.
The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Oscar-nominee Adam Driver (“Marriage Story“) is set to replace Isaac and leads an impressive cast that also includes Nathalie Emmanuel (“Game of Thrones“), Forest Whitaker (“The Color of Money“), Laurence Fishburne (“Apocalypse Now“), and Jon Voight (“Heat,” “Deliverance“).
A logline for the film was added by the outlet and reads as follows:
“The fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius, and conflicted love.”
Robert Duvall had dished the director approached Oscar-winner Christian Bale for the lead and Coppola’s nephew Nicolas Cage was teasing a small role as well. It seems Bale has passed and it’s unclear if Cage will appear, but perhaps it’ll be announced later.
Other names that have been mentioned for being in the mix were James Caan, Cate Blanchett, Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jessica Lange. However, it’s uncertain, given this announcement, if any or all of them will join the high-profile movie that is easily going to become one of the most anticipated projects of 2023.
Driver most recently worked with Ridley Scott on “The Last Duel” and “House of Gucci” as he’s about to begin shooting the Michael Mann long-gestating biopic “Enzo Ferrari” in Italy this summer that also stars actresses, Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley.
“Megalopolis” was said to begin shooting in New York City later this year and Hirsch Wallerstein is handling the sale of the film as they haven’t secured a distributor. Perhaps, we’ll get an update on the latter during the Cannes Film Market this month in France alongside the festival screenings.