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US director Francis Ford Coppola (in March in Los Angeles)
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Willy Sanjuan / dpa
Oscar winner Francis Ford Coppola is expanding the star cast for his heart project "Megalopolis".
Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman has now joined the ensemble cast, as the industry portals Deadline.com and TheWrap.com reported on Tuesday.
Filming is slated to begin later this year in Georgia.
The cast includes Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Schwartzman, among others.
The 83-year-old director and screenwriter also wants to bring his sister Talia Shire and British actress Kathryn Hunter in front of the camera.
Coppola had already spoken of »Megalopolis« in the 1990s.
It's a utopian drama set in a futuristic New York.
Coppola likens the concept to a Roman epic in the style of »Ben Hur«.
It's about a woman between two men.
According to Coppola, he wants to question forms of society and initiate thought processes.
Coppola said he wants to raise the $120 million the film is expected to cost himself.
It doesn't matter to him whether he makes a profit or a loss.
Coppola also became famous with his mafia epic »The Godfather«, which was released in cinemas almost exactly 50 years ago.
Most recently, the director had largely withdrawn from Hollywood.
He has been a hobby winemaker and businessman in Northern California for many years.
In 2011 he made his last film to date, the horror fairy tale »Twixt« with Val Kilmer and Elle Fanning on a small budget.
The film was only screened at film festivals and released on DVD.
In February, the five-time Oscar winner then said in an interview with the American magazine »GQ« that he would finally realize one of his long-cherished dream projects: »Megalopolis«.
aar/dpa