“Megadoc” is a self-produced $120 million experimental epic by Francis Ford Coppola, a dish about the chaotic work of “Megalopolis” by Oscar-nominated “Las Vegas” filmmaker Mike Figgis.
Who will capture the creative frenzy of the 83-year-old movie legend? Besides knowing Coppola for decades (I met him in 1996 while overseeing Nicholas Cage, “Leave of the Last Vegas”).
Figgis was on the ground on Thursday to showcase the world premiere of “Megadoc” at Venice Classics. It all began after Figgis emailed Coppola. He congratulated him when he heard he was making “Megalopolis” and “cheekily” and offered to make a documentary on the production of a film in Atlanta that took off to the wall. Then, shortly before filming began, Coppola went back to him and said, “Would you like me to come here next week?”
In the documentary, Figgis was able to talk to Coppola’s late wife, Eleanor Coppola. He also nailed some unfiltered interviews with “Megalopolis” actors Shea LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, John Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Adam Driver, Natalie Emmanuel and Lawrence Fishburne.
He also spoke with key members of the crew, including production designer Beth Mickle, who left the project midway through filming, and lifelong companion George Lucas, who described Coppola as “glamorous.” Figgis was also woven in archival footage from rehearsals with various cast members, including Robert De Niro and Uma Thurman in 2001, reflecting the failed previous attempts to make the film, along with Ryan Gosling in 2003.
Coppola’s long-standing epic was released in the US by Lionsgate. Produced by Tara Li-An and James Mockoski, “Megadoc” will be released in the US by Utopia.
There are four things I learned from “Megadoc.”
Francis Ford Coppola and Shea LaBeouf clashed repeatedly on set.
Figgis records how tension was attached between Labeouf and Coppola, after asking one question 2 about any contradiction in the story, to the point where the latter abandoned the set before the scene. While talking to Figgis, Labeouf is still shocked that Coppola called “the biggest pain in his fucking ass,” but the director shares that he sent a lengthy email to apologise to him the next day.
Labeouf also says he played the role after reaching out to John Voight to make amendments as part of his rehabilitation therapy. During the chat, Voight said he was about to start filming “Megalopolis” and urged LaBeouf to say that he had dreamed of making a film with Coppola. However, after being charged with misdemeanor battery and theft in 2021, Labeouf, as he himself describes it, was the industry’s “persona non-grata.” “I was at the core,” he says in the document. But two weeks after their phone chat, he heard a reply and was told, “He wants you to join the movie.” The actor initially feared he would be fired from set two weeks after filming.
Aubrey Plaza auditioned for Megalopolis while filming “White Lotus” in Sicily, and even though he thought it was a “nightmare of the movie (Was)”.
Plaza is not entirely scripted as it describes her first virtual encounter with Coppola. “I had the strangest Zoom,” she tells Figgis. Among them, Coppola challenges the Plaza, improvising the lines and rehears multiple times as different characters. Plaza said, “Do you know why you want this job? I have a $70,000 student loan so I have your fucking answer right there!” She said, after reading the script, “This movie is a nightmare, because it got me in the way.” She emailed Coppola to tell him what she felt and said, “He said, ‘Aubrey, how can you say this, can you say my film is a nightmare? I’m dear Aubrey. I’m writing something about hope. This film changes a positive message.”
Coppola lamented the film’s massive scope many times before xxing some of its crew.
In addition to Shia Labeouf’s constant questions, it was the extent of the film that irritated Coppola the most during filming. Coppola complains about “too many tracks” and his desire to minimize visual effects. He wraps “Guardian of the Galaxy 3” and communicates dullly to his crew, including Mickle, who joined “Megalopolis” after leaving the film half-heartedly. It’s not clear whether she was fired or decided to say goodbye, but she shows that Coppola has a change in mind regarding important creative decisions and is trying to cut costs.
When the filmmakers embarked on “Megalopolis,” they clearly didn’t imagine a minimalist film. Figgis reveals the gorgeous spending on the film. This includes $27 million for production design, $18.8 million for visual effects and $9.4 million for transportation alone. “This is my biggest budget,” he tells Figgis. “Even in ‘Revelation Now’, there was a helicopter, but nothing like this,” he says with an angry sigh. Instead of crushing Coppola, as Figgis says, the dramatic shift in the event exhilarates him. When asked by Figgis whether he is thriving in Chaos, Coppola continues to explain that he “facing Chaos” rather than enjoying it.
Natalie Emmanuel didn’t want to film the meal. Adam’s driver didn’t want to be photographed by Figuth at all.
Towards the end of the filming, Figgis says he encountered problems with only two actors on the set of “Megalopolis:” Emmanuel. And the driver took part in the film much later, and was uncomfortable with figgis filming him in between take. Nevertheless, Figgis and the polite driver agreed to give us a brief interview about creating “Megalopolis.”
Coppola echoed through Hoffman. Hoffman admits that Coppola “had never asked him to work with (Hoffman)” and that he was “shocked” when he received a call from him. When Coppola dedicated the role to him, he told the actor: And of course, I took the part where I don’t have a clue what it is, and now I’ve finished it, so I don’t know if I feel very different,” Hoffman tells Figgis. He and Plaza have fun on the set, improvising the scene where they began wrestling on their arms, and Hoffman jokingly attempts to deflect Plaza by jokingly asking him if he wanted to be involved romantically.
