Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis is, unsurprisingly, a who’s who of Hollywood talent. The final cast members for the filmmaker’s long-gestating film were announced on Tuesday, with Chloe Fineman (Saturday Night Live, High Fidelity), Isabelle Kusman (Licorice Pizza, The Fabelmans), D.B. Sweeney (The Cutting Edge, Fire in the Sky), Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man, Luck), and newcomer Bailey Ives joining the cast.
Previously announced stars include Aubrey Plaza, Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace Vanderwaal, Kathryn Hunter, and James Remar.
Described by Coppola as a contemporary drama, Megalopolis focuses on the fate of Rome as it haunts a modern world unable to solve its social problems in an epic story of political ambition, genius, and conflicting interests.
The budget for Megalopolis is $100 million, with production already underway. Francis Ford Coppola started to write Megalopolis in the 1980s. Still, he recognized that it would require a huge budget to match its massive scope, so it sat on a shelf for decades until he finally decided to give it another shot in 2001. Coppola began shooting second-unit footage but decided to pull the plug after the 9/11 attacks. As the story revolved around the reconstruction of New York City following a major disaster, he felt that such a project would not sit well with audiences soon after the real-life tragedy.
“The concept of the film is a Roman epic, in the traditional Cecile B. DeMille or Ben-Hur way, but told as a modern counterpart focusing on America,” Coppola previously told Deadline. “It’s based on The Catiline Conspiracy, which comes to us from ancient Rome. This was a famous duel between a patrician, Catiline, and that part will be played by Oscar Isaac, and the famous Cicero, who will be Forest Whitaker. He is now the beleaguered mayor of New York, during a financial crisis, close to the one that Mayor Dinkins had. This story takes place in a new Rome, a Roman epic set in modern times. The time set is not a specific year in modern New York, it’s an impression of modern New York, which I call New Rome.”
Copolla’s passion for seeing Megalopolis through is inspiring. After many years, most people would give up on a far-reaching project like this. I imagine Coppola has something to prove to himself. I wish I were that dedicated to any of the countless ideas I’ve had throughout the years. Then again, I’ve still got time. I’ll start working on them tomorrow. Yeah, that’s the ticket.