Award-winning director Sofia Coppola has revealed why her Apple TV adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel “The Custom Of The Country” was cancelled. The project, which was set to star Florence Pugh, was nixed despite its announcement in May 2022. Speaking to The New Yorker for a recent profile, Coppola explained that the tech giant ceased funding for the production and described it as a huge disappointment. “It’s a real drag. I thought they had endless resources,” Coppola said.
Coppola revealed that during the series’ development, she kept clashing with Apple executives, mostly men, who didn’t seem to understand the lead character, Undine Spragg. “They didn’t get the character of Undine. She’s so ‘unlikeable’. But so is Tony Soprano. It was like a relationship that you know you probably should have gotten out of a while ago,” she said. Undine Spragg, who comes from a wealthy Midwestern family, moves to New York, where she hopes to enter the inner circles of the rich and famous.
Coppola had great plans for the Apple TV series but revealed that it would have come with a hefty price tag. While Coppola’s most costly film to date is the 2006 historical drama “Marie Antoinette” ($45 million), she estimated that the Apple TV show would have cost the same as “five Marie Antoinettes.” Coppola’s most recent film “Priscilla”, a biopic of Elvis Presley’s wife, recently premiered in the UK to critical acclaim. It has been a refreshing take on Elvis as a human being, as Coppola showed his flaws without portraying him as a total villain.
While the “The Custom Of The Country” won’t see a series adaptation from Coppola, viewers may still get a chance to see Pugh’s performance as the director described her as the perfect fit for the lead role. Coppola said they would love to work together in the future, and considering Pugh’s meteoric rise in Hollywood, it could very well be sooner than later
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