Actor Forest Whitaker has shared details about Francis Ford Coppola’s upcoming mystery project “Megapolis”, which is slated to begin filming in August. 

Whitaker, the actor-producer, is at Cannes 2022 to receive the film festival’s honorary Palme d’Or. He suggested having a substantial role in the ‘Godfather‘ director’s next project and spoke favourably about its script. 

Coppola invested over $100 million of his own resources to make the movie, which has long been his passion project, stuck in gestation for nearly 20 years. This will mark Coppola’s first directorial venture since 2016’s “Distant Vision”. 

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Praising Coppola as an “amazing filmmaker”, Whitaker said “The cast is coming together”, as per Variety. “The Last King of Scotland” actor, for which he won an Oscar, joins the “Megapolis” cast alongside Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Jon Voight.

While the plot remains a mystery, Coppola had earlier stated he’d make it like a Roman epic, but set in a utopian version of New York City called New Rome. 

Whitaker, speaking ahead of the festival’s opening ceremony, shared more details of the plot, saying “the story deals with the city and the power structures within it, who are fighting for power. One is more progressive.” 

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He added, “I like the script and I like him”. 

Whitaker, who’s won a Cannes Best Actor for his role in “Bird”, also spoke reverentially of the film festival. 

He said, “I’d never really been to a film festival. I was with Clint Eastwood … I was so new. I had just been trying to play that part and now I was here and when I was acknowledged, it touched my heart. It really was a great gift.” 

This year, Whitaker is at the Cannes as a producer on Christophe Castagne and Thomas Sametin’s South Sudan-set documentary “For the Sake of Peace”, playing in the festival’s Special Screenings on May 18. Speaking of the difference between producing and acting, Whitaker said, “As producers, we have to feel like we’re contributing to a dialogue. As an actor, I go by my guts and instincts and personal belief in the world.” 

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However, he has no plans to direct, having helmed films like “Waiting to Exhale” and “Hope Floats”. 

Whitaker noted, “It takes a lot of time and commitment,” said Whitaker. “It needs to be the proper story … I’m not saying it won’t happen again, just not right now.”