‘Deranged’ film from Godfather director does the impossible

Critics and insiders wondered whether we would ever experience this moment again, yet here we are. Francis Ford Coppola, known for, among others The Godfatherhas the first trailer for Megalopolis released, dedicated to his wife, who died last month.

The 85 year old The Godfatherdirector started working on this megalomaniac project in 1979, immediately after the iconic one Apocalypse Now! Yet he was unable to get his passion project off the ground for decades. Until now, and that now seemed an impossible task.

Megalopolis by Francis Ford Coppola

After decades of updates, canceled plans and development problems, the director has just pulled out his wallet. $120 million. Self-financed, partly by selling off his beloved vineyards in northern California. Pure passion, pure creativity, and therefore an absurd risk. Megalopolis will be Coppola’s first film since Twixta moderately received horror film from 2011.

Decades later, the project can now finally premiere during the Cannes Film Festival. That’s what the hope is The Godfatherdirector to also find distributors, because until now only a French distributor dared to do it. It doesn’t depend on the cast: Coppola has opened a can of names that you can’t help but wonder about. His passion project stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman and Dustin Hoffman.

Who could say no to a final passion project from the legendary filmmaker behind films like The Conversation and The Rainmaker? And with such a look full of top actors.

‘Complete madness’

Well, studios and distribution parties. Megalopolis was very expensive to make, so no studio dared to take the risk. The film was shot between November 2022 and March 2023, with Coppola’s own money.

That process was anything but smooth: the entire VFX team was unceremoniously fired halfway through, key figures within production quit and the art department also quit due to differences of opinion. “It was complete madness on the set,” said one of those involved.

Yet money was not the only factor. In recent years, several very expensive films by legendary filmmakers have been released, passion projects with a certain prestige factor. Martin Scorsese always finds production partners who are willing to open their wallets.

Crazy and uncommercial

However, Scorsese has films that appeal to a large audience, while Coppola apparently does not. At least, if we have to believe insiders.

The plot of Megalopolis still remains a mystery after all these years, but industry sources are calling the mega-project “deranged” and “completely uncommercial.” The reputed The Hollywood Reporter spoke to a number of potential distributors earlier this year, who claim that Megalopolis is simply too complicated for mainstream audiences.

Wikipedia already describes a plot: ‘In the future after a devastating disaster, Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) in New York is divided between loyalty to her father Frank (Giancarlo Esposito), who has a classical view of society, and her lover , the architect Caesar (Adam Driver), who is more progressive and wants to rebuild New York into a utopia.”

“There’s just no way to position this movie,” said one distributor. Another claimed: “Everyone is rooting for Francis and full of nostalgia. But then there is the business side of this matter…” Everyone wishes Coppola a mega hit like The Godfather at such a late age, especially now that he is putting all his (financial) resources into the passion project. But yes, Hollywood remains a business, especially when you have to earn back such a gigantic budget.

Adam Driver with super strength

One thing is certain: the first teaser trailer for Megalopolis immediately leaves you wanting more. We see Adam Driver standing at the top of a skyscraper, testing some sort of superpower; his character seems able to stop time. Besides the fact that the images look beautiful (The Matrixwe don’t know anything else about who plays Adam Driver and what the film is about. Fortunately, that will change in two weeks, when Cannes starts.

And Coppola himself? He remains as enthusiastic as ever. “The seed for Megalopolis was planted when I was a child Things to Come by HG Wells saw. This 1930 classic by Korda is about building the world of tomorrow and has always stayed with me, first as the ‘young scientist’ that I was and later as a filmmaker,” said The Godfather director.

The annual Cannes Film Festival starts on May 14. In the meantime, check out the remarkable role fans have given Adam Driver in the new Harry Potter series.