We’ve been waiting a long time for the first trailer for Megalopolis. Now we finally have a 90-second glimpse of the sci-fi blockbuster from master director Francis Ford Coppola.
2024 is a banner year for sci-fi movies. It all started with Dune: Part Two. A new Planet of the Apes adventure is currently showing in cinemas before we plunge into the post-apocalypse of Mad Max with Furiosa. The next encounter with the legendary alien is also just around the corner. And then there’s Megalopolis.
Of all the blockbusters of the year, the dystopian tale of a declining metropolis is the most unpredictable project. Based on the teaser trailer, it looks as if director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) has created a very special film after a 13-year (!) break from cinema that will stay with us for a long time to come.
Sci-Fi highlight 2024: First teaser trailer for Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola unveiled
The story of Megalopolis begins with the destruction of a major city, as the trailer shows with impressive images in the first few seconds. We then follow a young, ambitious and idealistic architect named Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), who has a grand vision for reconstruction: He envisions a utopia.
Opposing him is the corrupt mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who is not interested in the future but in maintaining his own power. What makes things even more complicated is that Cesar’s great love, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), is none other than the daughter of this regressive politician.
Coppola, whose screenplay for Megalopolis was inspired by Roman history and the works of H.G. Wells, among others, wanted to shoot Megalopolis back in the 1980s. In the end, the project fell apart several times before he raised the financing – 120 million US dollars! – himself.
Read more: Hollywood is afraid of Coppola’s Megalopolis
After all these decades of failure, it’s a miracle that Megalopolis is coming after all. Coppola had to sell large parts of his winery to get the budget together. Now he is back on the big screen with his first film since 2011’s Twixt – cinematic history before our very eyes
