Shia LaBeouf cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis ahead of FKA twigs abuse trial

Shia LaBeouf has been cast in Francis Ford Coppola’s forthcoming film Megalopolis.

The controversial actor is currently awaiting trial after being sued by his former partner, the musician FKA twigs, for “relentless abuse” including allegations of sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress.

LaBeouf has denied causing twigs “any injury or loss”, saying that she is not “entitled to any relief or damages whatsoever”.

Megalopolis is a longstanding passion project for The Godfather director Coppola, who is self-financing much of the film’s nearly $100m budget.

On Wednesday (31 August), it was announced that LaBeouf was joining the cast, alongside newly announced co-stars Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, Grace Vanderwaal, Kathryn Hunter, and James Remar.

Actors previously announced to be starring in the project include Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Aubrey Plaza.

LaBeouf’s casting also comes after the actor was embroiled in a dispute with filmmaker Olivia Wilde over the nature of his departure from her forthcoming drama Don’t Worry Darling.

The American Honey star had been set to star alongside Florence Pugh in the film, out later this month. His role was eventually given to Harry Styles.

In an interview last month, Wilde suggested that she had fired LaBeouf from the production in order to create a “safe, trusting” environment on set.

However, LaBeouf subsequently denied this and provided screenshots of his email and text exchanges with Wilde to Variety, saying that he left of his own accord as he “couldn’t find time to rehearse” with his prospective co-stars.

He also shared a video sent to him by Wilde in which the Booksmart director can be heard saying: “I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I too am heartbroken and I want to figure this out.”

Don’t Worry Darling is released on 23 September.