Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has reportedly included Giancarlo Esposito in its cast. According to Deadline, the Breaking Bad star has been tapped for an undisclosed role in what’s been described as the acclaimed director’s passion project, which took decades to develop. The actor started the year on a good run – winning Best Supporting Actor at the Critics Choice Awards earlier this month for his performance in Better Call Saul, it’s his first time working with The Godfather filmmaker .
megalopolis caused a stir at the end of 2021 when this became known Coppola wanted to finance his own film after decades of silence. the report claims the budget to be close to $100 million (approx. Contrasting with a report by The Hollywood Reporter, earlier this month, whose sources claimed the film “went into chaos” and lost its art department. While Coppola isn’t exactly known for having the smoothest filming processes, he later contested this reportand stated that while there had indeed been some fluctuations in the crew, these were not “out of pocket” and that the characterization was “inaccurate”.
in megalopolis, Esposito joins a cast of A-list actors including the likes of Adam driver (marriage history), Forest Whitaker (Arrival), Nathalie Emmanuel (game of Thrones), Jon Voight (heat), Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix), Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus), Shia LaBeouf (transformers), Dustin Hoffman (Rainman) and Jason Schwartzman (The French Dispatch). While Coppola first penned the screenplay in the 1980s, it was eventually shelved in 2001 after 9/11 made headlines. Plot details for Megalopolis are scarce, but it is described as taking place in a post-disaster New York City that an architect wants to rebuild as a utopia. Deadline’s report calls it an “epic tale of political ambition, genius and dangerous love”.
“Everyone thinks a film should be a certain way, and it goes against the grain when you have a different idea,” Coppola said last yearregarding Megalopolis, during the 50th anniversary of his crime epic, The Godfather. “People can be very negative, but sometimes the other idea represents what’s coming in the future. That’s something to think about.” Backdrops in Megalopolis were originally shot using LED screen technology, which has been implemented on high-budget projects The Batman, The Mandalorianand the recently deleted 1899. However, THR previously noted that rising costs and other challenges pushed Coppola to move to a less expensive and more traditional green screen approach.
Esposito himself has been busy, having recently starred in it Netflix Heist series kaleidoscope and his role as Moff Gideon in the reprise war of stars universe series, The Mandalorian Season 3which is broadcast 1st March on Disney+ Hotstar.
There are currently no release details for Megalopolis.
