Here’s everything we know about Megapolis, the film that Francis Ford Coppola has been working on for over 40 years, with a plot so complex that it’s impossible to summarize it.
Francis Ford Coppola83 years old, now a real living legend in the history of cinema: however, the author of such films as Godfather, The Godfather – Part 2 AND Apocalypse has comewho has six Oscar winners under his belt, hasn’t released a new film in over ten years (the longest period of his career), which makes him curious about what he’s been up to since Twixt came out in 2011.
Over the past few years, the legendary director has been collecting what could be his movie full of stars, even more ambitious and complex: we are talking about the much-discussed sci-fi blockbuster titled metropolis. If this is your first time hearing about this, don’t worry, because we’re going to analyze everything we’ve managed to find out about the famous Hollywood director’s film.
Megapolis: Francis Ford Coppola’s film release date and graphic novel
As it turned out during the last Wondercon 2023, filming metropolis completed and the film will be released in theaters by 2024. Accompanying the theatrical release will also be a film-themed graphic novel created by Syzygy co-founder Chris Ryall and artist Jacob Phillips, whom Coppola contacted and spent time on set developing this adaptation.
Speaking about this side project, which will be released alongside Coppola’s film, Ryall explained, “The most interesting thing is that I worked directly with him. He did not license the material for this: the film and book are solely his. Last month we spent several hours in Atlanta talking not only about this graphic novel, but also about the comics he loved as a child, all the while condescendingly and encouragingly advising us to make the book very personal. So it was amazing to be able to work directly with someone of his caliber on something like this. For me, a big fan of not only Jacob’s color work on the Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips graphic novels, but the amazing art and color of his That Texas Blood series, working with Jacob when he was in such a creative phase it was a huge emotion. . It will be fun to build this particular corner of Francis’ new city.“.
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Huge cast: all stars, from Adam Driver and Shia LaBeouf to Dustin Hoffman.
What we know for sure is that for his giant film, Francis Ford Coppola has assembled an all-star cast: in May 2022, Deadline reported that Adam DriverNathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne were added to the cast of the film, marking the first time the director worked with an actor from John Wick: Chapter 4 ever since Fishburne, then 14, starred in Apocalypse has come. At the same time, it was revealed that Forest Whitaker and Jon Voight were also involved.
But the cast news didn’t end there, as Variety reported in August 2022 that Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Grace Vanderwaal, Katherine Hunter and James Remar were all set to star in Coppola’s new project. And finally, in January 2023, Deadline announced that the cast was further expanded with Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Chloe Fineman, D.B. Sweeney, Bailey Ives and Dustin Hoffman.
The metropolis tells the story of a modern society that is about to collapse like Ancient Rome.
Not much is known about this epic sci-fi drama spanning several decades, but according to Deadline, the ambitious project will tell the story of a modern society on the verge of collapse, as happened to the ancient Roman Empire and other civilizations during the course of stories.
On June 26 last year, during a press conference held at the Taormina Film Festival, Francis Ford Coppola stated:I always try to do something in my own style, but in the end I always make films that I can’t do, – the director smiles. – This is a feature of my career, remember such works as “Apocalypse Now”. . Now with Megalopolis, I would like to make a Roman epic with the story of an architect who wants to rebuild a utopian New York after a devastating disaster. I was ready to shoot the film in 2001. Then 9/11 happened, and I realized that my vision of a future world that was so generous and friendly had collapsed. I couldn’t have made a film that talked about the kindness of people when there was terrorism. So I let him go. Years later, while trying to shed a few pounds, I listened to the tape of that script again, and the spark rekindled.“.
“This is a Roman epic set in New York.Coppola continued.Epics have often inspired American cinema, and Rome has been an example from which US politics have also drawn inspiration. There is indeed a breakdown in my film, the senate is corrupt and nothing works. But then someone comes along to change everything. Although this is a story that was born twenty years ago, I think it is very relevant and realistic when you think about what is happening.“.
The director began work on the film in the 1980s.
Making incredibly ambitious films that require years of hard work, dedication and a level of stress that would break most people has been a key aspect of the director’s career, especially with two of his most famous films, The Godfather and The Godfather. Apocalypse has come. It is not an exaggeration to say that Megapolis falls into the same category as, according to reports from Hollywood ReporterCoppola had been working on the project since the 1980s, with Rob Lowe reporting that Coppola had already talked about the project during the filming of 56th Street in 1982.
Movie talk with Timing in April 2019, the director said: “This year I’m going to start doing important work, I’m using everything I’ve learned in my long career since I was 16 when I was in theater. It will be a large-scale epic, which I called Megapolis. This is an unusual film, it will be a large-scale production with a large cast. I’m using all the years I’ve spent experimenting with films of different styles and genres, culminating in this project.“.
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Francis Ford Coppola invested 120 million dollars to be able to build a metropolis
When Megapolis finally sees the light of day, it will be mainly due to the hard work, dedication and tons of money that the director has invested in the project. Speaking to GQ in February 2022, Coppola revealed that he funded the production by selling most of his winery as collateral for a loan: “If I’m going to invest $120 million of my own money, which I’ve practically already done, it’s because I want the film to help humanity..”
Because of what has been called “unstable environmentIt was revealed that several members of the crew left the film during filming, including production designer Beth Mickle, art director David Scott and visual effects supervisor Mark Russell, as well as the rest of the visual effects team. However, both Coppola and Driver disputed The said statement said that despite some changes in the crew, the production was able to stay on budget and run smoothly. The actor wrapped up filming in early March last year, defining his time on set as “one of the best cinematic experiences of his life“.