There are only a few directors who can do this high density of masterpieces like Francis Ford Coppola in their work. In the 1970s alone he brought The Godfather, The Dialogue, The Godfather – Part II and Apocalypse Now to the cinema in succession. Nevertheless, things have become very quiet around him in recent years.
Since the 2011 horror film Twixt, Coppola has stayed away from the screen as a filmmaker. That should change this year. After more than four decades, he is finally bringing his long-awaited science fiction epic Megalopolis to the cinema. Now there is the first picture from the dystopian narrative about the reconstruction of New York.
New sci-fi epic: In Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Adam Driver wants to transform New York into a utopia
The story of Megalopolis begins after a devastating disaster that inspires the young architect Caesar (Adam Driver) to rebuild New York after its darkest hour to rebuild as a utopia. In this project, however, he comes across shady people and corrupt politicians, especially the mayor.
You can watch the first teaser image for Megalopolis here:
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Coppola has been dreaming of making the film since the 1980s. Despite big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Uma Thurman and Robert De Niro, who have since been linked to the project, Megalopolis never went into production. In the late 2010s, Coppola took matters into his own hands.
Without a studio behind him, he financed the film himself and even sold a considerable part of his wine empire for it. In May 2022, Deadline reported that the film cost around $100 million. The Hollywood Reporter quoted an even higher sum in January 2023: $120 million budget for megalopolis.
Megalopolis is the biggest risk of Francis Ford Coppola’s career and comes with a huge cast
This makes the science fiction epic the most expensive film of Coppola’s career – and a theatrical release is not in sight. Nevertheless, Megalopolis should see the light of day this year. One is expected Premiere at a major film festival, such as Cannes. Coppols was last represented there in 2009 with the idiosyncratic Tetro.
In addition to Adam Driver, who most recently appeared in front of the camera in Michael Mann’s Ferrari for another master director, Megalopolis is waiting with one well-known cast on. Breaking Bad star Giancarlo Esposito, Game of Thrones veteran Nathalie Emmanuel and Hollywood secret weapon Aubrey Plaza are among them.
Other roles include Laurence Fishburne, Chloe Fineman, Dustin Hoffman, Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight, not to mention Jason Schwartzman, who is just that best year of his career has put behind him. 2023 was the part of a new Wes Anderson, Hunger Games and Spider-Man film.
When does the sci-fi epic Megalopolis start in cinemas?
As already mentioned: Megalopolis does not yet have a film distributor, neither in Germany nor in the rest of the world. So far only Coppola’s production company American Zoetrope is behind the project. The hope is that a studio will notice the film at a festival. It would also be conceivable that a streaming service like Netflix would secure the distribution rights. With a bit of luck, Megalopolis will still start 2024 in the cinema.