New masterpiece by Francis Ford Coppola?
First trailer for “Megalopolis” released
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel star in Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.”
© American Zoetrope/Megalopolis/Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Veteran director Francis Ford Coppola has shown the first moving images of his eagerly awaited Cannes entry “Megalopolis”.
Director legend Francis Ford Coppola (85) will present his latest work “Megalopolis” in competition at the Cannes International Film Festival on May 16th. There is now also information about the old master’s very personal film, in which “Star Wars” star Adam Driver (40) plays the leading role a first teaser trailer appeared. The approximately one and a half minute clip shows Coppola’s vision of an empire in decline and impresses with its almost hypnotic images.
That’s what “Megalopolis” is about
“Megalopolis” is described as a monumental film, the script of which Coppola is said to have been working on since the 1980s. The setting is the city of New Rome, a slightly alienated New York City. After a devastating disaster, the city is faced with the question of how to rebuild New Rome. The brilliant artist Cesar Catilina (Driver) advocates a leap into a utopian, idealistic future, while the conservative mayor Franklyn Cicero (“Breaking Bad” star Giancarlo Esposito, 66) wants to stick to the status quo.
In between stands Julia Cicero (“Game of Thrones” star Nathalie Emmanuel, 35), the mayor’s daughter. Her loyalty is divided by her love for Cesar Catiline. So Julia asks herself what humanity ultimately really deserves, as the film’s official plot description says. from which the US trade journal “Variety” quotes.
Old master Francis Ford Coppola, one of the co-founders of US New Hollywood cinema, is putting everything on one card with his new film “Megalopolis”. The great filmmaker hasn’t been able to impress with his own directing work for a long time. For example, the works “Tetro” (2009) and “Twixt – Virginia’s Secret” (2011) were largely unsuccessful with audiences and film critics, and together they grossed less than two million dollars at the global box office.
Francis Ford Coppola sold a winery for “Megalopolis.”
Now the legendary director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” invested $120 million of his own fortune in “Megalopolis.” According to media reports, in order to meet this immense expense, Coppola sold, among other things, one of his wineries. In Cannes, “Megalopolis” will be shown in the main competition of the film festival and not out of competition. The director has already won the prestigious Palme d’Or there twice in the past – with his classics “The Dialogue” and the Vietnam War film “Apocalypse Now”.
However, Coppola is currently still looking for a US distributor for his work. The financially strong tech companies Amazon and Apple are considered possible candidates that could secure the 85-year-old’s prestige project. Constantin Film will bring Coppola’s vision of the future to cinemas in Germany. A theatrical release date has not yet been set.