Hi, blanchetters!

Great news, Cate is in talks to star in the new movie by Francis Ford Coppola, and TAR is moving along as we get our first plot details and Cate was already seen in Berlin to begin production.

Cate Blanchett in talks for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis

Breathtaking bets on his vision established him as one of the greatest living American filmmakers and a vineyard magnate. Now, Francis Coppola is ready to put a lot of his hard-won chips on the table one more time to make his epic dream project, Megalopolis.

While the financial configuration is still evolving, Coppola at 82 years young is betting big on himself once again, by sharing the financial risks of a film that will cost between $100 million-$120 million. He is in deep discussions with a stellar cast of actors eager to work with the director of The Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse Now!, The Conversation and other classics, on a seminal picture that is decades in the making.

While some conversations are further along then others, the actors Coppola is discussing roles with include Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Cate Blanchett, and Jon Voight, with Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange also among those he is seeking. He will also reunite with James Caan, whose role as Sonny Corleone in Coppola’s The Godfather made Caan one of the biggest stars of that era. This for a big tapestry film that will have many other actors in the cast.

“I’m committed to making this movie, I’d like to make it in the fall of 2022,” Coppola revealed. “I don’t have all my cast approved, but I have enough of them to have confidence that it is going to be a very exciting cast. The picture’s going to cost between $100 million and $120 million. Needless to say, I hope it’s closer to $100 million. I’m prepared to match some outside financing, almost dollar for dollar. In other words, I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is. What’s interesting about that is, there was a documentary about my dream studio, when I owned Zoetrope Studios and I was unafraid to risk everything I had in order to make my dream come true. Well, I really haven’t changed my personality, at all.”

Megalopolis concerns an architect (Isaac) dreaming of a utopic version of New York City in the near future and his battle with the conservative mayor (Whitaker) during a financial crisis.

First Plot Details for Todd Field’s TAR Starring Cate Blanchett

Earlier this year we got the long-awaited news that Todd Field was, in fact, embarking on his first feature film in 15 years after a handful of projects in development never saw the light of day. Following 2001’s In the Bedroom and 2006’s Little Children, Field will return with TAR, a Focus Features project starring Cate Blanchett.

Set to film in Berlin, a casting notice has now revealed the first details regarding the plot: “The intellectual drama tells the story of world-renowned musician Lydia Tár (Blanchett), who is just days away from recording the symphony that will take her to the very heights of her already formidable career. Lydia Tár’s remarkably bright and charming six-year-old adopted daughter Petra has a key role to play here. And when elements seem to conspire against Lydia, the young girl is an important emotional support for her struggling mother.”

The casting notice is specifically for Petra, who is of Syrian origin. “The girl was adopted into privileged circumstances a few years ago where she happily leads the normal life of a young school girl,” the notice says. “She is very bright, self-confident and rather mature for her age. She has already experienced a lot. However her positive charisma supports her mother where she needs it most.”

With the makings of a complex leading role for Blanchett, we can’t wait to see Field return behind the camera. It also looks like the reported September start will occur as Blanchett has already been spotted in Berlin.

Sources: Deadline, The Film Stage, The Film Stage – Megalopolis