Francis Ford Coppola finally unveils Megalopolis and begins work on the next film.

Don’t call it a premiere, but Francis Ford Coppola finally presented his epic Megalopolis, which cost 120 million dollars, to a significant chunk of the Hollywood industry yesterday in Los Angeles. The goal of the presentation was to find a buyer for the film. Even while reviews are being kept under wraps until the formal public screening of the film, the first details are beginning to make their way into the public consciousness.

As a result of having witnessed Megalopolis, we are able to affirm that there has never been and will never be another director who is as insane as Francis Ford Coppola. According to a tweet from the Beyond Fest account, “What a privilege it is to be on the same planet as him,” while Matt Belloni reported that an attendee said, “It’s unflinching in how batshit crazy it is.”

 

The following is a report from Mike Fleming of Deadline: “Coppola’s new film is brimming with ideas that fuse the past with the future, with an epic and highly visual fable that plays perfectly on an IMAX screen.” In a relatively short amount of time—two hours and thirteen minutes, not counting credits—he manages to cover a wide range of topics. Fleming was also provided with Coppola’s introduction, which he read prior to the screening being held:

Don’t call it a premiere, but Francis Ford Coppola finally presented his epic Megalopolis, which cost 120 million dollars, to a significant chunk of the Hollywood industry yesterday in Los Angeles. The goal of the presentation was to find a buyer for the film. Even while reviews are being kept under wraps until the formal public screening of the film, the first details are beginning to make their way into the public consciousness.

As a result of having witnessed Megalopolis, we are able to affirm that there has never been and will never be another director who is as insane as Francis Ford Coppola. According to a tweet from the Beyond Fest account, “What a privilege it is to be on the same planet as him,” while Matt Belloni reported that an attendee said, “It’s unflinching in how batshit crazy it is.”

 

The following is a report from Mike Fleming of Deadline: “Coppola’s new film is brimming with ideas that fuse the past with the future, with an epic and highly visual fable that plays perfectly on an IMAX screen.” In a relatively short amount of time—two hours and thirteen minutes, not counting credits—he manages to cover a wide range of topics. Fleming was also provided with Coppola’s introduction, which he read prior to the screening being held:

If I could leave you with just one thought after you have seen my new film, it would be this: Our founding fathers borrowed a Constitution, Roman Law, and Senate for their revolutionary government without a king. As a result, the history of the United States of America could not have occurred or been as successful as it was without the influence of classical learning.

When it comes to the question of when the general public will be able to experience Coppola’s vision, which was largely self-funded and stars actors such as Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, and others, the director wants to secure a full plan and lock in wide theatrical distribution before bringing it to a festival. Previously, it was speculated that this could indicate that the director is more likely to make their debut at a film festival in the fall rather than returning to Cannes.

 

In light of the fact that the screening has already taken place, we now have a more comprehensive overview of the story: There are conflicting visions of the future brought about by the devastation of a metropolitan area similar to New York City as a result of an event. An ambitious and idealistic architect named Cesar, played by Adam Driver, is located on one side. His sworn adversary, the Mayor of the city, Frank Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito, is on the opposing side. The question that needs to be answered is whether it is better to embrace the future and construct a utopia using renewable materials, or whether it is better to pursue a typical approach to rebuilding, which is full of power brokering and corruption. Julia, the socialite daughter of the mayor, is a restless young lady who was raised in an environment of power and is searching for meaning in her life. Nathalie Emmanuel plays Julia, who is in the middle of their struggling relationship.

Contrary to what one might have thought, this monumental endeavor is not going to be the final work of the 84-year-old director Francis Ford Coppola. I’ve started working on a new picture, which is one of the ways I knew Megalopolis was over,” he says in an interview with Deadline. Although it won’t be inexpensive by any stretch of the imagination, I’m not sure whether it can be considered “an epic film.”

We can only hope that Coppola will be able to obtain distribution in a timely manner so that his long-awaited project can receive the release that he desires.