According to Deadline, Ingrid Goes West star Aubrey Plaza has been tapped to star opposite Oscar nominee Adam Driver in Francis Ford Coppola’s long-in-development epic drama Megalopolis. Further details about her character are still being kept under wraps, but production is expected to finally begin this fall.
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Plaza first gained recognition for her iconic TV role as April Ludgate in the popular sitcom Parks and Recreation. Her film credits include Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, To Do List, Life After Beth, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Ingrid Goes West, and Black Bear. She was most recently seen in the newly-released films Emily the Criminal and Spin Me Round.
Plaza will also be joining previously announced cast members Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones), Jon Voight (Coming Home), and Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix films).
Megapolis has been Coppola’s passion project since the 1980s. Set in modern-day America, it reportedly centers around the aftermath of a devastating disaster, where an architect wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia. The 82-year-old filmmaker has confirmed that the story will get to explore timely themes while also featuring Roman epic influences.
“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 explained. “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.”
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There have been many times in the past that Coppola tried to start the production on the project. However, due to certain unchangeable setbacks, including directorial obligations to The Godfather trilogy and the 9/11 attacks, making Megalopolis a reality has indeed become a difficult task for the filmmaker. Despite this, his determination hasn’t wavered through the years, and he is still confident that he’ll be able to finally make his dream project.
