Francis Ford Coppola and Adam Driver have spoken up to decry reports of a ‘chaotic’ set during the making of the film Megalopolis.
Yesterday we covered the story first revealed by The Hollywood Reporter regarding the production of Megalopolis, Coppola’s self-funded, star-studded epic that the trade outlet claimed was facing severe difficulties. The report stated that the production had fired or let go of its entire visual effects team, art department and that the set was ‘chaotic’ whilst the budget was spiralling out of control.
As you can imagine they might, those at the centre of this story have quickly responded with director Francis Ford Coppola and star, Adam Driver offering their take on the production of Megalopolis.
Speaking to Deadline, Coppola shot down any talk of chaos and discussing the alleged firings and personnel changes. “It was basically about managing cost. Bradley Rubin (The Mandalorian, Westworld) has been hired to be the film’s production designer, and he is handling all this.”
The shoot originally began using virtual production facilities as we’ve seen in the likes of The Mandalorian. However, this is still an emerging technology and partway through the shoot, Coppola claims that it simply became apparent that to keep in line with the film’s budget, they would have to switch to a more traditional post-production visual effects approach. In fairness to Coppola, you can see how this would necessitate a switch in personnel: a crew versed in virtual production would not be geared towards working with a completely different mode of production.
Coppola also denies the claim that tensions on the set are high due to a feeling of ‘chaos’, stating “I’ve never worked on a film where I was so happy with the cast. I am so happy with the look and that we are so on schedule. These reports never say who these sources are. To them, I say, ha, ha, just wait and see.”
Adam Driver, one of the film’s stars would also pop up to refute the claims, adding “all good here! Not sure what set you’re talking about! I don’t recognise that one! I’ve been on sets that were chaotic and this one is far from it.”
Driver goes on to discuss the claim that the production currently has no art department, admitting that whilst this is true, the story is being blow out of proportion.
We’re guessing the truth of the matter probably lies somewhere in the middle here, but hopefully matters are under control as the production continues. Coppola is once again taking a big swing with the self-financing of Megalopolis, perhaps the biggest swing of his career so a harmonious set is key to his ambitions and equally vital to the health and wellbeing of all involved. Hopefully for everybody that’s been working on Megalopolis, any complications are now resolved as the shoot continues.
Image: BigStock
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