Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis Looks Like a Decadent Delight in Its First Trailer
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One of the best filmmakers of all time, Francis Ford Coppola, hasn’t had a major theatrical release in almost 30 years. Instead, the man behind The Godfather, The Conversation, and Apocalypse Now has been making weird art films and his very own wine. And you know what? That sounds amazing. Good for you, Mr. Coppola.
Coppola also spent that time dreaming of something bigger. Something new and wonderous. A movie so out there he knew Hollywood wouldn’t pay for it. So, using that wine money, he decided to pay for it himself. The movie is called Megalopolis and after a long, long wait to bring the dream project to the big screen, the first trailer is finally here.
If you know nothing about it, that’s the perfect headspace to be in. We’ll talk more after.
That’s not what you were expecting right? It looks like a total trip: ancient Rome set in a futuristic New York City. So what’s the story? It’s there on the fringes of the trailer if you know it. The official logline reads as follows:
Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
What’s not in that description is how Driver’s character can, apparently, change things with his mind, giving the film a distinct sci-fi angle. And, of course, they’re all joined by a star-studded cast that includes Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, and Lawrence Fishburne, just to name a few.
Early word from distributors was that the movie is highly uncommercial, which isn’t great for a film that reportedly cost well over $100 million. But a European distributor is on board ahead of its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival this month. From there, maybe a U.S. distributor will get behind it. Until now, there’s no set release plan. But we’re guessing that by later this year we’ll finally have a chance to enter the mind of one of film’s ultimate masters.
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