For over a decade, Francis Ford Coppola has not released a new film. Now he’s back on the big screen with the science fiction epic Megalopolis
There are few directors who can boast such a high density of masterpieces in their oeuvre as Francis Ford Coppola. In the 1970s alone, he brought The Godfather, The Dialogue, The Godfather – Part II and Apocalypse Now to the cinema one after the other. Nevertheless, it has become very quiet around him in recent years.
Since the 2011 horror film Twixt, Coppola has stayed away from the big screen as a filmmaker. That is set to change this year. After more than four decades, he is finally bringing his eagerly awaited science fiction epic Megalopolis to the cinema. Now we have the first image from the dystopian tale about the reconstruction of New York.
New sci-fi epic: In Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, Adam Driver wants to turn New York into a utopia
The story of Megalopolis begins after a devastating catastrophe that inspires the young architect Caesar (Adam Driver) to rebuild New York as a utopia after its darkest hour. In the process, however, he comes up against shady people and corrupt politicians, most notably the mayor.
Here you can see the first teaser image for Megalopolis:
Since the 1980s, Coppola has dreamed of making the film. Despite big names such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Uma Thurman and Robert De Niro being linked to the project in the meantime, Megalopolis never went into production. At the end of the 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 to do so. In May 2022, Deadline reported that the film cost around 100 million US dollars. The Hollywood Reporter quoted an even higher figure in January 2023: a budget of 120 million US dollars 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 there is no theatrical release in sight. Nevertheless, Megalopolis is set to see the light of day this year. A premiere at a major film festival, such as Cannes, is expected. Coppols was last represented there in 2009 with the unconventional Tetro.
In addition to Adam Driver, who was last in front of the camera in Michael Mann’s Ferrari for another master director, Megalopolis boasts a well-known cast. 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 has just had the best year of his career. In 2023, he was part of a new Wes Anderson, Hunger Games and Spider-Man movie
