Summary

  • The first new trailer clip for Megalopolis has been released.
  • The clip follows Adam Driver's Cesar as he climbs onto the roof of a building and displays time-bending powers.
  • The movie delves into themes of ambition, power, and human resilience in a futuristic metropolis.

The first look at Megalopolis has been revealed via a new trailer. The upcoming movie is a long-gestating work from legendary director Francis Ford Coppola, whose last movie was 2011's Twixt. The project, on which the filmmaker has spent more than $100 million of his own money, is an original science fiction movie that will follow the drama surrounding attempts to rebuild a city that has been destroyed by a major disaster and boasts an ensemble cast that includes Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, and Dustin Hoffman.

On the newly created Francis Ford Coppola YouTube account, a first-look trailer clip for the upcoming Megalopolis has been released. Check it out below:

The slow-burn clip depicts Adam Driver's character Cesar cautiously climbing out onto the roof of a futuristic building. As he steps one foot over the ledge and begins to fall, he shouts “Time stop!” He freezes and nervously reverses his near fall. Then he snaps his fingers and the city restarts, with the clip ending on a shot of him contemplating the incredible feat he has just performed.

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Adam Driver as Cesar Standing on a Building's Roof in Megalopolis

This first-look clip at the movie, which premieres on May 17 at the Cannes Film Festival while awaiting proper distribution, offers a great deal of insight into the movie and Cesar's character in particular. So far, details have been thin as to the characters that the Megalopolis cast will be playing. While it was previously revealed that Cesar was an idealist hoping to build a sustainable city, the fact that he has the kind of power showcased in the clip adds a huge wrinkle to the story.

Francis Ford Coppola speaking
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This clip helps clarify what kind of subgenre of science fiction Megalopolis will inhabit. While it has long been described as a sci-fi thriller, the umbrella of the genre could have simply been applied to a fairly routine dystopian story. However, the fact that Cesar has these time-bending powers, and the fact that they are so developed during what seems to be the first time they are being tested, means that the mechanics of the plot will function in an entirely different way than an average dystopian thriller.

This time-bending twist could potentially help make the project more commercial...

While it is unknown how many, if any, of the other characters in Megalopolis will display similar powers, the movie now seems somewhat closer to a superhero blockbuster than a traditional drama. Coppola's strong directorial hand, and the fact that the story was developed more than 40 years ago, will likely prevent the movie from feeling like a clone of the Marvel movies that have dominated the box office in recent years. However, this time-bending twist could potentially help make the project more commercial, in addition to complicating the interpersonal drama at the center of the story.

Source: Francis Ford Coppola