Francis Ford Coppola Accused of Trying to Kiss Extras on Chaotic Megalopolis Set

Francis Ford Coppola tried to kiss extras on the set of Megalopolis, a new report claims — one of several accusations leveled at the 85-year-old director ahead of the film's debut at the Cannes Film Festival.

According to The Guardian's report, Coppola was known for pulling women into his lap during the film's production, among other behavior. The passage reads:

Several sources also felt that Coppola could be “old school” in his behaviour around women. He allegedly pulled women to sit on his lap, for example. And during one bacchanalian nightclub scene being shot for the film, witnesses say, Coppola came on to the set and tried to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras. He apparently claimed he was “trying to get them in the mood.”

Megalopolis executive co-producer defended Coppola in a statement that was sent to IGN, at one point describing what he called the director's desire to "inspire and establish the club atmosphere, which was so important to the film." The full statement follows below.

I have known and worked with Francis and his family for over 35 years. As one of the first assistant directors and an executive producer on his new epic, Megalopolis, I helped oversee and advise the production and ran the second unit. Francis successfully produced and directed an enormous independent film, making all the difficult decisions to ensure it was delivered on time and on budget, while remaining true to his creative vision.

There were two days when we shot a celebratory Studio 54-esque club scene where Francis walked around the set to establish the spirit of the scene by giving kind hugs and kisses on the cheek to the cast and background players. It was his way to help inspire and establish the club atmosphere, which was so important to the film. I was never aware of any complaints of harassment or ill behaviour during the course of the project.

The rest of the article covers the fraught production of Megalopolis, which was first conceived nearly fifty years ago in 1977. Coppola, who has worked on such seminal works as The Godfather trilogy, spent $120 million of his own money to make the film, which stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, a visionary architect trying to build a utopia. The first Megalopolis trailer debuted earlier today.

The article details how Coppola was forced to shift to green screen technology after reportedly saying he didn't want to make a Marvel movie ("[A]t the end of the day, that’s what he ended up shooting," one source apparently said), and how at one point most of the visual effects and art teams quit halfway through the shoot. Megalopolis is repeatedly compared to Apocalypse Now — another famed Coppola movie that struggled through a difficult production.

The final product was reportedly described by one executive who saw the film as "batshit crazy," though another viewer apparently said it was "like Einstein and relativity in 1905, Picasso and Guernica in 1937 – it’s a date in the history of cinema." We'll know soon enough for ourselves when Megalopolis debuts at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.