[Guardian] ‘Has this guy ever made a movie before?’ Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-year battle to film Megalopolis

[Antoo]

‘Has this guy ever made a movie before?’ Francis Ford Coppola’s 40-year battle to film Megalopolis

The director has spent half his life and $120m of his own money to make his sci-fi epic. Just days ahead of its debut in Cannes, some of his crew members are questioning his methods

www.theguardian.com

Pretty interesting article talking about the experiences some crew members had working on this film. Whole article is worth reading but here are some snippets. Take everything with a grain of salt of course. Could be a hit piece, but there are some serious allegations here.

Old-School Approach

By the sound of things, the shoot became a clash between Coppola's old-school approach, privileging spontaneity and "finding magic in the moment", and newer digital film-making methods, such as filming actors in front of virtual CGI landscapes in a "volume" – effectively a giant wall of LED screens. Today's technology enables directors to realise anything they can dream up – including utopian cities of the future – but working this way demands preparation and collaboration. "I think Coppola still lives in this world where, as an auteur, you're the only one who knows what's happening, and everybody else is there just to do what he asks them to do," suggested one former crew member, who did not wish to be named.

The crew member sometimes found Coppola's approach exasperating: "We had these beautiful designs that kept evolving but he would never settle on one. And every time we would have a new meeting, it was a different idea." When the crew member insisted they needed to do more work to determine how the film was going to look, they say, Coppola replied: "How can you figure out what Megalopolis looks like when I don't even know what Megalopolis looks like?"

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Marijuana

A lot of time was, apparently, wasted. A second crew member recalls: "He would often show up in the mornings before these big sequences and because no plan had been put in place, and because he wouldn't allow his collaborators to put a plan in place, he would often just sit in his trailer for hours on end, wouldn't talk to anybody, was often smoking marijuana … And hours and hours would go by without anything being filmed. And the crew and the cast would all stand around and wait. And then he'd come out and whip up something that didn't make sense, and that didn't follow anything anybody had spoken about or anything that was on the page, and we'd all just go along with it, trying to make the best out of it. But pretty much every day, we'd just walk away shaking our heads wondering what we'd just spent the last 12 hours doing." As a third crew member puts it: "This sounds crazy to say, but there were times when we were all standing around going: 'Has this guy ever made a movie before?'"

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On-set Behavior

Several sources also felt that Coppola could be "old school" in his behaviour around women. He allegedly pulled women to sit on his lap, for example. And during one bacchanalian nightclub scene being shot for the film, witnesses say, Coppola came on to the set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras. He apparently claimed he was "trying to get them in the mood".

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And lastly, this one guy cooked him lmao.

The virtual "volume" was abandoned in favour of more traditional "green screen" technology", according to one source: "His dig at us was always, 'I don't want to make a Marvel movie,' but at the end of the day, that's what he ended up shooting."

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[Kiyamet]

Gonna be fun watching it crash and burn

 

[YaBish]

Yeah... Sounds like old hollywood.

 

[Dunsparcer]

Are the Marvel movies not using the "volume" yet?

 

[CloseTalker]

I was disappointed in the trailer to see that Jon Voight is in this, but reading this it makes perfect sense. I know my curiosity will get the best of me, sounds like this has potential to be just a monstrously fascinating trash fire, with a very slight chance of it being genius.

 

[Nyrad]

Stoner Coppola was not on my Bingo Card. That makes me even morer excited for the movie!

 

[MadJosh04]

Well, my hype just plummeted.

 

[CloseTalker]

Are the Marvel movies not using the "volume" yet?

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Ant Man Quantumania definitely did

 

[Lotus]

Yikes

 

[Ostron]

Francis Ford Coppola in a troubled movie project? That's a first.

 

[ap_2]

Absolutely no way this makes money but FFC doesn't care. He wants to get high and make his dream movie. I hope it's as weird as I expect it to be.

 

[Dice]

120 m of his own dollarydoos... I've certainly underestimated how much directors make.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Not surprised it was a mess but that doesn't mean the end result will be bad.

 

[entremet]

Not surprising. Dude is a dinosaur. Not an ageist take here. Plenty of older directors have stayed current--Spileberg, George Miller.

 

[Mivey]

Are the Marvel movies not using the "volume" yet?

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I think the text is implying that Marvel uses the volume, and they instead reverted to the more oldschool green screen technique.

The bigger issue seems to have been that they couldn't agree on any kind of look for their setting, and thus the volume thingie was not an option anyway. You need to know what to show on those LED monitors at the time of filming. If you don't then yeah, green screen is your only choice.

 

[Tobor]

It's too bad they didn't have a documentary crew embedded in there. I'd rather watch that than the actual movie.

 

[Reyes]

120 m of his own dollarydoos... I've certainly underestimated how much directors make.

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FFC owned wineries and his own wine farm and made wine at a point.

 

[Dice]

I think the text is implying that Marvel uses the volume, and they instead reverted to the more oldschool green screen technique.

The bigger issue seems to have been that they couldn't agree on any kind of look for their setting, and thus the volume thingie was not an option anyway. You need to know what to show on those LED monitors at the time of filming. If you don't then yeah, green screen is your only choice.

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Q to A: What's this "volume" y'all are talking about here? :o

 

[VAD]

Making women sit on your lap is old school? Like that was something that people did back then?
What the fuck…

 

[Mivey]

Q to A: What's this "volume" y'all are talking about here? :o

Click to shrink...

The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian Season One

A behind the scenes look at the groundbreaking virtual production technology used on The Mandalorian, Season One.Over 50 percent of The Mandalorian Season 1 ...

www.youtube.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

The thing that The Mandalorian used a lot during filming. The name "volume" is new, first time I heard it referred as such

 

[sazz]

I'm honestly still partially shocked that this movie actually exists, I guess the winery really came in clutch since there is no way in hell anyone would ever fund such a large production for FFC in the year 2023/24

Francis Ford Coppola in a troubled movie project? That's a first.

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I, for one, am shocked that the guy with a track record for troubled movie productions, has another troubled movie production

 

[janusff]

sounds like a disaster

 

[netprints]

Umm wtf
"He allegedly pulled women to sit on his lap, for example. And during one bacchanalian nightclub scene being shot for the film, witnesses say, Coppola came on to the set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras. He apparently claimed he was "trying to get them in the mood"."

 

[Pluto]

When was the last time he made a good movie? Peggy Sue got married was fun but after that?

If he wants to waste his own money that doesn't really bother me, if he wants to pay people to stand around and do nothing it's only hurting him. But making women sit on his lap and trying to kiss extras? Eww, someone should have kicked him in the balls.

 

[NealMcCauley]

So One From the Heart all over again.

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Q to A: What's this "volume" y'all are talking about here? :o

Click to shrink...

Ever seen videos of Cameron shooting avatar?

 

[Zor]

Q to A: What's this "volume" y'all are talking about here? :o

Click to shrink...

The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian Season One

A behind the scenes look at the groundbreaking virtual production technology used on The Mandalorian, Season One.Over 50 percent of The Mandalorian Season 1 ...

www.youtube.com

 

[Jarmel]

As a third crew member puts it: "This sounds crazy to say, but there were times when we were all standing around going: 'Has this guy ever made a movie before?'"

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This is insanely disrespectful. Like who the hell are you to be making this comment? What movies have you made?

 

[higemaru]

When was the last time he made a good movie? Peggy Sue got married was fun but after that?

If he wants to waste his own money that doesn't really bother me, if he wants to pay people to stand around and do nothing it's only hurting him. But making women sit on his lap and trying to kiss extras? Eww, someone should have kicked him in the balls.

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tucker, dracula, youth after youth, tetro and twixt are all genuinely great.

 

[sazz]

120 m of his own dollarydoos... I've certainly underestimated how much directors make.

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it's almost certainly mostly from his winery, someone can correct if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure he was majorly broke in the 80s since his movies started to do real bad

When was the last time he made a good movie? Peggy Sue got married was fun but after that?

If he wants to waste his own money that doesn't really bother me, if he wants to pay people to stand around and do nothing it's only hurting him. But making women sit on his lap and trying to kiss extras? Eww, someone should have kicked him in the balls.

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some people would say Dracula ('92) or The Rainmaker ('97) but honestly I think the former is mediocre and the latter is outright not good

the whiplash from his work in the 70s to any decade since then is pretty outstanding, but I can't really criticise his work since he has made 4 undeniable classics

 

[Tfritz]

Q to A: What's this "volume" y'all are talking about here? :o

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"Volume" is when you use a mix of sets and LED screens to display backgrounds and whatnot instead of using a green screen and adding the backgrounds in during post production. It creates a more realistic moment for both the audience and the performers.

Here is an example from hit* cancelled Netflix series 1899

Here's an example from hit Disney+ series the Mandalorian, starring Pedro Pascal from a recording studio in his home

 

[LGHT_TRSN]

This is insanely disrespectful. Like who the hell are you to be making this comment? What movies have you made?

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I mean...it's a crew member....I'm assuming they've worked on many movies....

 

[Jarmel]

I mean...it's a crew member....I'm assuming they've worked on many movies....

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And the guy they're referring to has literally made some of the best movies of all time. He was making all timers before they were born.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

120 m of his own dollarydoos... I've certainly underestimated how much directors make.

Click to shrink...

it's almost certainly mostly from his winery, someone can correct if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure he was majorly broke in the 80s since his movies started to do real bad

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Yeah, it's winery money. He made a lot of money (by 70s standards) on his 70s output and then spent it all building a studio that went bankrupt in the '80s. He's been doing mainly work for hire since. But his winery hit the big time and he made a ton of money with it.

 

[WascallyWabbit]

Was all fun and games till this bit…

Several sources also felt that Coppola could be "old school" in his behaviour around women. He allegedly pulled women to sit on his lap, for example. And during one bacchanalian nightclub scene being shot for the film, witnesses say, Coppola came on to the set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras. He apparently claimed he was "trying to get them in the mood".

Click to shrink...

 

[sazz]

And the guy they're referring to has literally made some of the best movies of all time. He was making all timers before they were born.

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Okay but if the movie production is troublesome then it's a rightful comment to make, just because he made classics in the 70s doesn't warrant leeway

if anything, that's a comment that is made because he's FFC and they were probably surprised at the way he works and operates, hence the "This sounds crazy to say..."

 

[P-MAC]

And the guy they're referring to has literally made some of the best movies of all time. He was making all timers before they were born.

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Yet he is still undebatably being an idiot in this scenario

 

[MadLaughter]

And the guy they're referring to has literally made some of the best movies of all time. He was making all timers before they were born.

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What sounds disrespectful is the level of unprofessionalism he's alleged to have shown while making this movie. A joke by a crew member isn't much compared to wasting everyone's time and sexual harassment.

 

[Dunsparcer]

Sorry, didn't want to derail into a discussion about big screens but I was just a little confused about 'the dig' as I feel like FFC implied that Marvel uses green screens, hence they used the "volume" but then because of the lack of vision from him the green screen is what ended up happening.

But on topic, I was very on board when I thought this movie was "Metropolis" remake but then come to find out it's "Megalopolis" and then I'm still on board, but all this misogynistic stuff I'm probably completely off on seeing this. Sounds like he's definitely got the "megalo" part of the movie down.

 

[Jarmel]

What sounds disrespectful is the level of unprofessionalism he's alleged to have shown while making this movie. A joke by a crew member isn't much compared to wasting everyone's time and sexual harassment.

Click to shrink...

The sexual harassment is obviously bad but who gives a fuck if he wastes everybody's time? It is his money and pet project.

 

[Schmeedtz]

The Virtual Production of The Mandalorian Season One

A behind the scenes look at the groundbreaking virtual production technology used on The Mandalorian, Season One.Over 50 percent of The Mandalorian Season 1 ...

www.youtube.com

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUnxzVOs3rk

The thing that The Mandalorian used a lot during filming. The name "volume" is new, first time I heard it referred as such

Click to shrink...

FYI, it's always been called the volume, ever since the first Mando season.

 

[thediamondage]

he sold most of his winery a few years ago as well so its not a business that is generating new revenue for him or more importantly can offset tax losses (this movies budget) that easily. barring "this is the greatest movie since Oppenheimer" type reviews, which of course is still very possible, this movie looks like its gonna bomb hard. He did a screening for all Hollywood distributors a few weeks ago and all of them attended and not a single one was willing to distribute the movie in the USA.

Some french company picked up the rights to distribute in France, which created another problem: he can't really sell the movie to Netflix anymore, since french laws require movies to be in theaters for a certain time before being shown on stream, and since the french distributor will be showing it in french theaters it means Netflix can't really stream it in Europe at all for like 15 months or something like that. Amazon and Apple TV+ would have similar issues.

I'm sure it'll eventually pick up a US distributor but IMAX screens may be booked completely for a long time now so if it starts showing up in Europe soon it may never get a big screen presence in USA, which would almost guarantee box office failure.

 

[LGHT_TRSN]

And the guy they're referring to has literally made some of the best movies of all time. He was making all timers before they were born.

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And they may have worked on more films than he's made in his entire life...what's the point?

 

[Mivey]

FYI, it's always been called the volume, ever since the first Mando season.

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"new to me" I should have written. I guess it just flew by me that people called it that

 

[Hollywood Duo]

Sorry, didn't want to derail into a discussion about big screens but I was just a little confused about 'the dig' as I feel like FFC implied that Marvel uses green screens, hence they used the "volume" but then because of the lack of vision from him the green screen is what ended up happening.

But on topic, I was very on board when I thought this movie was "Metropolis" remake but then come to find out it's "Megalopolis" and then I'm still on board, but all this misogynistic stuff I'm probably completely off on seeing this. Sounds like he's definitely got the "megalo" part of the movie down.

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Volume is a filmmakers tool like any other. They can use it well or completely mess it up like any other thing.

 

[sazz]

he sold most of his winery a few years ago as well so its not a business that is generating new revenue for him or more importantly can offset tax losses (this movies budget) that easily. barring "this is the greatest movie since Oppenheimer" type reviews, which of course is still very possible, this movie looks like its gonna bomb hard. He did a screening for all Hollywood distributors a few weeks ago and all of them attended and not a single one was willing to distribute the movie in the USA.

Some french company picked up the rights to distribute in France, which created another problem: he can't really sell the movie to Netflix anymore, since french laws require movies to be in theaters for a certain time before being shown on stream, and since the french distributor will be showing it in french theaters it means Netflix can't really stream it in Europe at all for like 15 months or something like that. Amazon and Apple TV+ would have similar issues.

I'm sure it'll eventually pick up a US distributor but IMAX screens may be booked completely for a long time now so if it starts showing up in Europe soon it may never get a big screen presence in USA, which would almost guarantee box office failure.

Click to shrink...

wasn't he demanding a ridiculous marketing budget from distributors, around $100m+ if I remember correctly, it's really not surprising that no one wanted to deal that much money to a 2024 FFC movie lmao

 

[Jarmel]

And they may have worked on more films than he's made in his entire life...what's the point?

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You'll have to excuse me if I don't take the valued input of some anonymous crew member about how the directorial process should be over a guy who has literally made multiple movies that are in the pantheon. He's probably washed up but at the same time like I want to see your credentials if you're making that kind of comment and judgment.

 

[firehawk12]

he sold most of his winery a few years ago as well so its not a business that is generating new revenue for him or more importantly can offset tax losses (this movies budget) that easily. barring "this is the greatest movie since Oppenheimer" type reviews, which of course is still very possible, this movie looks like its gonna bomb hard. He did a screening for all Hollywood distributors a few weeks ago and all of them attended and not a single one was willing to distribute the movie in the USA.

Some french company picked up the rights to distribute in France, which created another problem: he can't really sell the movie to Netflix anymore, since french laws require movies to be in theaters for a certain time before being shown on stream, and since the french distributor will be showing it in french theaters it means Netflix can't really stream it in Europe at all for like 15 months or something like that. Amazon and Apple TV+ would have similar issues.

I'm sure it'll eventually pick up a US distributor but IMAX screens may be booked completely for a long time now so if it starts showing up in Europe soon it may never get a big screen presence in USA, which would almost guarantee box office failure.

Click to shrink...

If the film really is impossible to screen, since it apparently requires a live actor to be in the audience, then yeah.

I can respect him wanting to make a pure vanity project at least. He can't take it with him, so why not.

 

[Suede]

Sounds like a disaster incoming.

 

[Star-Lord]

The sexual harassment is obviously bad but who gives a fuck if he wastes everybody's time? It is his money and pet project.

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Why getting so hostile? Just because he made good movies in the past and it's his money that's paying them doesn't mean the crew can't have opinions on how the production went overall.