Francis Ford Coppola Doesn't Want People To Label 'Megalopolis' As A "Woke Hollywood Production"

Judging by the reviews out of Cannes, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” is a lot of things. It’s an interesting, sometimes beautiful, film. It’s experimental. Our own review called it “a madman’s fever dream.” But don’t call it woke, according to Coppola himself. He specifically doesn’t want that.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, Francis Ford Coppola talked all things “Megalopolis.” And that includes the casting of the film. This is a movie that features beloved actors like Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, and Aubrey Plaza. But it’s also a film that showcases the talents of people who often find themselves on the outs, such as Shia LeBeouf and Jon Voight. That’s by design, as Coppola didn’t want people to label his film “woke.”

“What I didn’t want to happen is that we’re deemed some woke Hollywood production that’s simply lecturing viewers,” Coppola said. “The cast features people who were canceled at one point or another. There were people who are archconservatives and others who are extremely politically progressive. But we were all working on one film together. That was interesting, I thought.”

As for LaBeouf, in particular, the actor’s intense preparation and performance in the film was something Coppola enjoyed. In fact, he compared working with LaBeouf to working with another Hollywood legend.

“Shia really took to it,” Coppola said. “I had no experience working with him prior to this, but he deliberately sets up a tension between himself and the director to an extreme degree. He reminds me of Dennis Hopper, who would do something similar, and then you’d say, ‘Just go do anything,’ and then they go off and do something brilliant.”

Obviously, we still don’t know how “Megalopolis” is going to perform at the box office when non-critics will get a chance to see it. Perhaps, Coppola’s attempts at ruffling feathers with LaBeouf and Voight in the cast will pay off. We shall see.

“Megalopolis” debuts in theaters on September 27.