I’m not fully understanding what’s causing all the “chaos” on the shoot of Francis Coppola‘s Megalopolis, at least as described by The Hollywood Reporter‘s Kim Masters, Scott Feinberg and Aaron Couch.
Apparently the trouble has to do with the visual effects either costing too much or not being good enough to satisfy Coppola, or a perhaps a combination of the two.
The piece says that Coppola, whose lack of experience with effects-heavy shooting suggests he could have used the counsel of someone like James Cameron, “fired almost his entire visual effects team Dec. 9” — a month ago — “with the rest of that department soon following.”
Mark Russell (In the Heights, The Wolf of Wall Street) was the film’s top visual effects production supervisor. Production designer Beth Mickle and supervising art director David Scott have also flown the coop, the story says. A source says the $120-million budgeted film “now has no art department.”
The futuristic Megalopolis “has descended into chaos,” the story claims, citing “multiple sources.” Roughly halfway through shooting in Atlanta and with filming expected to finish in March, Megalopolis has already been tagged as a mess, giving off “severe Apocalypse Now vibes.
A production source has told the THR trio that “it’s unclear whether the production can go forward as planned.”
Coppola’s reps haven’t said anything to anyone, but his movies have always been fraught with financial anxiety and general uncertainty.
World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy has posted a significant insider quote: “Coppola’s movie is definitely in trouble. He’s shaking down people to get extra cash. grips are pissed. Dude is taking money from his own budget and is siphoning cash from things like costume, make-up, and production design accordingly.”
I’ll tell you this much. Joe and Jane Popcorn aren’t going to be very enthusiastic about paying to see Megalopolis when it hits theatres, which, knowing Coppola, probaby won’t happen until sometime in ’24. The film just sounds too labrynthian, too complex, and certainly not primitive enough for the Millennial and Zoomer ADD crowd.