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Francis Ford Coppola says all is well on the set of Megalopolis, despite earlier reports that said otherwise.
"I love my cast, I love what I’m getting each day, I am on schedule and on budget, and that’s what is important to me," Coppola told Deadline.
The Hollywood Reporter released a report stating that Coppola reportedly fired most of the movie's visual effects team in December, with the rest of the department soon following. The film's production designer and supervising art director have also exited the project and the movie has no art department. Deadline now reports that the art department left over "creative differences involving personnel."
"It was basically about managing cost,” the filmmaker said about the VFX team's firing. The film currently has a budget of $100 million.
“I’ve never worked on a film where I was so happy with the cast,” Coppola said. “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 [...] So if we’re on schedule, and I love the actors and the look is great, I don’t know what anyone’s talking about here.”
Star Adam Driver also made a statement of his own, defending Coppola's firing of the VFX team and denouncing The Hollywood Reporter article.
"I’d like to briefly respond to The Hollywood Reporter article published Monday, January 9th," he said. "All good here! Not sure what set you’re talking about! I don’t recognize that one! I’ve been on sets that were chaotic and this one is far from it.
Yes, it is true that the art department resigned and VFX were let go. Not all departments find cohesion on films and rather than suffer through and making decisions that leave a lasting impression on the film, people quit, get fired, or part ways. It’s unfortunate when it happens, but this production is not out of pocket in comparison to other productions; especially to the point that it merits an article about us descending into chaos. That characterization is inaccurate."
Added Coppola: "We’ll finish the film in spring of 2023, and we’re totally on schedule, which is hard to do on a big picture, I don’t know how many films can say that eight weeks in but we are and that’s a fact [...] Every night I go see the dailies, and I understand why I am going through all of this. I love what I see, every night. The look of the film is exactly what I dreamed."
The film also stars Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, and Dustin Hoffman.
