Apple cancels Sophia Coppola's upcoming Edith Wharton series

Apple TV+

Sofia Coppola says executives dropped her Apple TV+ adaptation of an Edith Wharton novel because the company didn't want to center an unlikable lead woman.

Coppola aimed to adapt Wharton's "The Custom of the Country," which chronicles a newly wealthy Midwesterner's attempt to infiltrate New York society. In 2020, Coppola said Undine Spragg, the novel's lead, is her favorite "literary anti-heroine" and that she was excited to bring the character to the screen for the first time.

However, Apple has decided to drop the project because they did not want a project centered on an unlikable female lead, reports the Los Angeles Times

Coppola believes the issue lies in the industry itself, stating that it's hard for female filmmakers to obtain funding or make projects at all. "If it's so hard for me to get financing as an established person, I worry about younger women starting out. It's surprising that it's still a struggle."

Coppola's first project with Apple TV+ was "On the Rocks," a dramedy that featured Rashida Jones and Bill Murray.

While Coppola's Wharton project won't be coming to Apple TV+, "The Buccaneers" -- an eight-part series based on another of Wharton's novels -- is set to premiere on November 8.