Exclusive: Shia LaBeouf Joining Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis In Lead Role
According to our trusted and proven sources, Shia LaBeouf is potentially joining the cast of the long-awaited Coppola film Megalopolis.
Update: This Giant Freakin Robot exclusive was confirmed, and Shia LaBeouf is appearing in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
Francis Ford Coppola had an idea to make a film titled Megalopolis decades ago, but appropriately enough for a career legendarily punctuated by enormous setbacks, it has frequently been stalled. However, it seems Coppola is finally pushing forward with his magnum opus. According to our trusted and proven sources, Shia LaBeouf is currently in talks to star in a lead role in Megalopolis along with an amazing cast of actors. It seems that Francis Ford Coppola may finally get to make the movie that, more than any other, has fascinated him for years.
Shia LaBeouf is joining a cast for Megalopolis that includes Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Last Duel), Forest Whittaker (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones and Four Weddings and a Funeral), Jon Voight (who previously worked with Francis Ford Coppola in the legal thriller The Rainmaker) and Laurence Fishburne, who starred in one of his first roles in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. It is currently not known what role Shia LaBeouf is up for in Megalopolis, other than it would be a lead.
In addition to those listed above and the potential inclusion of Shia LaBeouf, many intriguing actors have been rumored to be joining Megalopolis. Another Star Wars feature player, Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Zendaya, Batman Returns star Michelle Pfeiffer, Parks & Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza, Coppola nephew and Rushmore star Jason Schwartzmann, and perpetual Academy Award-nominee Cate Blanchett have all been attached to the movie at some point. However, given that the film has taken decades to even get this far, it is understandable that it takes a little bit longer to get exactly clear.
Shia LaBeouf has been on a hiatus from acting after a number of personal issues, which would potentially make Megalopolis one of his first feature film roles in years. In the intervening time, Shia LaBeouf has taken time off for reflection and growth but is eager to get back to work in films. In addition to being in talks for the Francis Ford Coppola passion project, Shia LaBeouf will be starring in Padre Pio. The Abel Ferrara-directed picture is a biopic of the famed and controversial Italian monk Padre Pio (born Francesco Forgione). Padre Pio exhibited signs of stigmata (the phenomenon of spontaneous manifestations of wounds similar to those legendarily ascribed to Jesus Christ during the crucifixion) and was investigated by both the Vatican and others for them, finally dying without concrete explanation in 1968.
The film Megalopolis has been described as chronicling the attempts to rebuild a city (sometimes being referenced as New York City or something similar) after a massive disaster. Francis Ford Coppola has described it as his most ambitious film, incorporating themes of the fall of Ancient Rome, utopianism, political ambition, and doomed love. Coppola is financing the film himself and despite the decades of slow development, seems to be quickly gathering talent like Adam Driver, Laurence Fishburne, and Shia LaBeouf to star in Megalopolis.
