A project carried out by the director for more than 40 years, the film “Megalopolis” is finally revealed in the first images, before its screening at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
It has been more than 40 years since Francis Ford Coppola think about his next film, an ambitious fable with the impulses of Roman tragedies, Megalopolis. After the project slowed down after the September 11 attacks, the project finally resumed in recent years. And the wait is soon coming to an end, since the director of Godfather and D’Apocalypse Now will present this new feature film at the Cannes Film Festival, from May 14 to 25, 2024. The 85-year-old filmmaker is also in competition for the Palme d’Or and could win the third of his career.
I have to say that Megalopolis is a particularly ambitious project resembling an ancient Roman tragedy. Firstly by its long gestation, but also by its plot which takes place in an imaginary world close to ours. As the city of “New Rome” must change, two visions clash: that of César Catilina, a genius artist capable of stopping time, and the conservative mayor Franklyn Cicero. In the middle, the mayor’s daughter, Julia Cicero, in love with Caesar Catilina, is torn. Le Pacte revealed the first images of this still very enigmatic film in a video to discover below.
A crazy casting and a still unclear release date
Even if Megalopolis does not win the Palme d’Or at the next Cannes Film Festival, the climb up the steps before the screening of the film will certainly be spectacular. In the casting of the film, we find huge names, like Adam Driver (Star Wars), Nathalie Emmanuel (Game Of Thrones), Dustin Hoffman (The winner), Shia Labeouf (transformers), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Laurence Fishburne (Matrix), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation) or Jason Schwartzman (HAS Board of Darjeeling Limited). Just that !
For now, the release date has not been officially announced. According to information from Point, a cinema release in France next September has been mentioned, but as yet nothing precise or official. It must be said that, while the project is certainly ambitious, its commercial potential is still very uncertain. What is certain is that the Cannes public will discover it in the coming days and that the film should be released this year.
Synopsis – Megalopolis is a Roman epic set in an imaginary modern America in full decadence. The city of New Rome absolutely must change, which creates a major conflict between Caesar Catilina, a genius artist with the power to stop time, and the arch-conservative mayor Franklyn Cicero. The first dreams of an ideal utopian future while the second remains very attached to a regressive status quo protective of greed, privilege and private militias. The mayor’s daughter and jet-setter Julia Cicero, in love with César Catilina, is torn between the two men and will have to discover what seems best for the future of humanity.