The Coppola family and their relations are some of the most well-known people working in Hollywood. Francis Ford Coppola, five-time Academy Award winner, is of course well-known for bringing us The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. His daughter, Sofia Coppola, won an Oscar for her 2003 film, Lost In Translation. And recently his son, Roman Coppola, has returned to the director’s chair to bring us A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charles Swan III, which he’s scripted himself.
Charles Swan already has attached to the project Charlie Sheen in the leading role, with Jason Schwartzman (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; and incidentally, he’s Sofia and Roman’s cousin), Aubrey Plaza (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), and Katheryn Winnick (TV’s Bones) supporting.
Variety report that that supporting cast has got even better, with Bill Murray (Lost In Translation), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), and Patricia Arquette (TV’s Medium) now coming on board too.
“Sheen stars as the title character, a successful graphic designer whose fame, money and charm have made him irresistible to women. When his girlfriend breaks up with him, his life swirls into a downward spiral of doubt, confusion and reflection. Through delirious fantasies involving his many failed romances, he begins the hard road of self-evaluation to come to terms with life without her.”
Essentially, this is going to be awesome. Murray already has a history with working with the Coppola family, earning himself an Oscar nomination for Roman’s sister’s Lost In Translation, and he’s worked with Roman before, with Roman having written Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited and the upcoming Moonrise Kingdom. Not to mention Roman taking additional and second unit director credits on Lost In Translation, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited.
Murray’s work on Anderson’s films means he’s also worked alongside Schwartzman on more than one occasion too, and Winstead’s work on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World means she’ll now be joining her Scott Pilgrim co-stars, Schwartzman and Plaza, for Roman Coppola’s new film.
I always love it when actors, directors, and writers frequently collaborate together, and this project is shaping up nicely to be a kind of Wes Anderson-esque film, which is perfect, since Roman’s been working with him for years. I’m a big Wes Anderson fan, and I have a feeling that I’m going to be a big Roman Coppola fan too. Production has already begun out in Los Angeles, and I cannot wait to see how it all comes together on the big screen. It’s going to be brilliant.
Also, on a fairly unrelated note, for anyone interested, the Coppola/Schwartzman family also includes none other than Nicolas Cage himself, born Nicolas Coppola, who is Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew, making him Sofia, Roman, and Jason’s cousin. Cage changed his name early in his career so as not to have people think he was getting famous solely because of his family ties, which is a fact I’ve always loved.
