Oscar Isaac to play Francis Ford Coppola

Director Barry Levinson’s upcoming film will be based on the making of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 gangster drama. Actor Oscar Isaac will be playing the iconic filmmaker opposite Jake Gyllenhaal, who is cast as Robert Evans.

The Godfather which was released in 1972 is an adaptation of Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel. The crime epic steered the auteur movement in American cinema as the 70s saw talents like Martin Scorsese and Terrence Malick following suit. Levinson’s film will chronicle Coppola’s struggle, his conflicts with Robert Evans, the studio head at Paramount Pictures, and the battles preceding the classic’s release.  

Oscar Isaac famously played the titular character, a struggling folk singer, in the Cohen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. The actor will also be seen in Denis Villeneuve’s fantasy drama Dune.

Francis Ford Coppola’s exclusive cut of the final film in The Godfather trilogy is expected to be released later this year. Coppola’s cut of The Godfather III is titled Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone.