Megalopolis[lower-alpha 1] is a 2024 American epic science fiction drama film written, directed, and produced by Francis Ford Coppola. The film stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman. Set in an imagined modern United States, it follows visionary architect Cesar Catilina (Driver) as he clashes with the corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Esposito) in determining how to rebuild the metropolis of New Rome as "Megalopolis", a futuristic utopia. The film references the characters involved in the Catilinarian conspiracy of 63 BC, including Catiline and Cicero, in addition to Caesar.
In development for decades, Megalopolis came from Coppola's desire to make a film drawing parallels between the fall of Rome and the future of the United States by setting the events of the Catilinarian conspiracy in modern New York City. He conceived the idea for the film in 1977 and actively started developing it in 1983 by assembling notes for a future script. Preparations for a film based around his initial concept came together in 1989 to be shot in Rome, but it was postponed after Coppola prioritized other projects to pay his debt to Hollywood after a string of box-office disappointments. Coppola revived the project in 2001, holding table reads with prominent actors in New York. After the September 11 attacks, an event that resembled the film's plot and themes, Megalopolis was again abandoned. Having become disheartened working for the studio system, Coppola soon after declared his intentions to self-finance the project if it ever came to fruition.
Coppola announced his return to the film in 2019 and, two years after, sold a portion of his winery in California to spend $120 million of his own money to fund it. After a delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, casting was underway by 2021. The film reunited Coppola with past collaborators, including actors Esposito, Fishburne, Remar, Shire, and Sweeney, cinematographer Mihai Mălaimare Jr., second-unit director Roman Coppola, and composer Osvaldo Golijov. Principal photography took place from November 2022 to March 2023, in Georgia. Coppola adopted an experimental style that permitted improvisation during the shoot by letting actors write scenes and himself make spontaneous changes to the script. These methods proved divisive, leading to the resignation of the art department and visual effects team, among others, and raising comparisons to Coppola's history of challenging productions. Filming allegedly wrapped ahead of schedule.
Megalopolis was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it premiered on May 16, 2024, and polarized critics. The film struggled to secure distribution due to Coppola's financial demands, with Lionsgate acquiring domestic rights after he compromised to cover marketing costs. In the run-up to release, a trailer was removed for using fabricated pull quotes, and allegations of on-set misconduct were made against Coppola, for which he filed a libel lawsuit against Variety for publicizing them. The film was theatrically released in the United States on September 27, and has grossed $4 million.
Plot[]
In an alternate present-day "American Republic", Cesar Catilina clashes with the New Rome city mayor Franklyn Cicero. Cesar is the inventor of Megalon, a revolutionary new bio-adaptive building material he believes can change the world, and has ambitious plans to utilize it to construct "Megalopolis", a futuristic utopian city of his own design. After Cesar announces his intentions in a televised speech, Cicero leads a smear campaign against him involving the death of his wife and the post-mortem disappearance of her body in unexplained circumstances.
TV presenter Wow Platinum, Cesar's mistress, leaves him to marry Hamilton Crassus III, an extremely wealthy elderly bank CEO and Cesar's uncle. Shortly afterward, Cesar becomes acquainted with Julia, Cicero's well-read daughter. While initially distrusting and spying on him, she soon develops feelings for him. When Julia reveals herself immune to Cesar's ability to stop time, he brings her on to assist in the Megalopolis project.
At a lavish and decadent wedding reception for Wow Platinum and Crassus, Cesar takes drugs backstage. Clodio Pulcher, Crassus's depraved grandson, sabotages the show to implicate Cesar in a sex scandal involving Vesta, a teenage pop star with a virginal image. Cesar is arrested but ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing and released, while Vesta continues her career after adopting a new rebellious and sexually charged persona. Soon, Cesar and Julia become romantically involved. Cesar laments the loss of his ability to stop time following his arrest but finds himself able to do it with Julia.
The Soviet Union satellite, "Carthage", falls out of orbit over New Rome, destroying large parts of the city. Cesar uses the opportunity to begin construction of Megalopolis, despite Cicero's opposition. In a press conference, he urges the need for debate and dialogue about society and asks people to consider if a better world is possible. Cesar is delighted to learn that Julia is pregnant, while Cicero is aghast. Privately, he pleads with Cesar to leave his daughter, attempting to bribe him with information about what happened to his wife, but Cesar refuses. Clodio begins stirring up popular discontent against both Cesar and Cicero with fascist rhetoric, while separately, Wow Platinum convinces him to assist her in a plan to take control of Crassus's fortune via hostile takeover, freezing Cesar’s bank accounts in the process.
Cesar is shot in the head and severely wounded in an assassination attempt but heals quickly thanks to a Megalon skin graft. The protests against Cesar and Cicero led by Clodio turn into full-scale riots, and Cicero flees to a secret underground bunker. After being forced from his position as bank CEO by the board of directors, Crassus confronts Wow Platinum and Clodio with a bow and arrow, killing Platinum and wounding Clodio. Confronting protestors at Megalopolis, Cesar gives an impassioned speech about the future and wins the crowd over. Clodio's protestors turn against him, and he has his body strung up by an angry mob. Crassus pledges to use his wealth to support the construction of Megalopolis.
Sometime later, the construction of Megalopolis is completed. Cicero, holding Julia and Cesar's baby daughter, Sunny Hope, promises to work together with Cesar to keep building a better future.
Cast[]
- Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, a futuristic architect and the Chairman of the Design Authority in New Rome, blessed with the ability to stop time[4]
- Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Franklyn Cicero, the arch-conservative mayor of New Rome[4]
- Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero, Cesar's love interest and Cicero's daughter[4]
- Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum, a TV presenter specializing in financial news who desires money and power[4]
- Shia LaBeouf as Clodio Pulcher, Cesar's jealous cousin[1]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist. [4]
- Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III, Cesar's wealthy uncle and the head of Crassus National Bank[4][5]
- Laurence Fishburne as Fundi Romaine (the film's narrator), Cesar's driver and assistant[6]
- Talia Shire as Constance Crassus Catilina, Cesar's mother[7]
- Jason Schwartzman as Jason Zanderz, a member of Cicero's entourage[7]
- Kathryn Hunter as Teresa Cicero, Cicero's wife[7]
- Grace VanderWaal as Vesta Sweetwater, a virginal teen pop star[4]
- Chloe Fineman as Clodia Pulcher[8]
- James Remar as Charles Cothope[8]
- D. B. Sweeney as Commissioner Stanley Hart[8]
- Isabelle Kusman as Claudine Pulcher[8]
- Bailey Ives as Huey Wilkes[8]
- Madeleine Gardella as Claudette Pulcher[1]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist.
- Balthazar Getty as Aram Kazanjian, Clodio's right-hand man[7]
- Romy Mars as a reporter[9]
- Haley Sims as Sunny Hope Catilina[8]
- Dustin Hoffman as Nush Berman, Cicero's fixer[7]
Production[]
Development[]
Writer, director, and producer Francis Ford Coppola in 2001
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Pre-production[]
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Top: Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, and Nathalie Emmanuel
Bottom: Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, and Jon Voight
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Filming[]
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The film was shot at Trilith Studios.
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Alleged conflicts on set[]
Creative differences[]
Plaza spoke positively about Coppola's willingness to experiment and how sometimes "all of a sudden, he would have another idea. And then all of a sudden, we're shooting in a different location we didn't even plan to shoot. And then the whole day goes by and you're like, 'I had no idea any of that was going to happenTemplate:'".[10] Others described that approach as "exasperating" and "old-school", as Coppola was hesitant to decide how the film would look and would spend work days completing shots practically instead of relying on digital techniques. One crew member recalled, "He would often show up in the mornings before these big sequences and because no plan had been put in place, and because he wouldn't allow his collaborators to put a plan in place, he would often just sit in his trailer for hours on end, wouldn't talk to anybody, was often smoking marijuana ... And then he'd come out and whip up something that didn't make sense, and that didn't follow anything anybody had spoken about or anything that was on the page, and we'd all just go along with it, trying to make the best out of it." On Driver's first day on set, Coppola allegedly took six hours to achieve an effect by projecting an image on the side of Driver's head.[11] Coppola denied smoking marijuana on set, adding that he had been avoiding the substance ever since his weight loss in 2017.[12]
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Coppola further explained that he hired Mickle for her work in recreating 1950s New York for Edward Norton's Motherless Brooklyn (2019) but that creative differences formed "to a degree that it was decided that the best thing would be if I hired a concept artist and came up with frames that showed what I wanted, which I did."[13][12] Working with concept artist Dean Sherriff to translate his vision through keyframe concept art, which he described as similar in style to that of a woven mural or tapestry, he permitted minimal input from the art department, whose practices, having recently completed the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023), he deemed conventional, expensive, and hierarchical.[1]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist. [12] "The art department was frustrated because they felt I was evolving the look of the picture independently of them," he said, "They wanted giant sets and images. I wanted other elements like costumes and live effects to do some of the work and have it not all be art-department-centric. So, there was disagreement along those lines."[13] Coppola had originally set $100 million for the budget and $20 million as contingency. As the budget was at risk of rising to $148 million (which he said would have "bankrupted me and my family"), he laid off one of five art directors, leading the entire team to resign. Production allegedly wrapped a week ahead of schedule, with the budget close to the planned $120 million.[1]: Script error: The function "hyphen2dash" does not exist. [14]
Allegations of misconduct[]
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The Tabernacle, where allegations of misconduct against Coppola arose
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Post-production[]
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Themes[]
Megalopolis was inspired by the Catilinarian conspiracy, including Cicero's denouncing of Catiline.
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Release[]
Distribution[]
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Coppola in Cannes the day after the film's premiere in May 2024
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Marketing[]
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Reception[]
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Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 [TBA Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis: Productions Notes]. Cannes Film Festival (May 13, 2024).
- ↑ [TBA Megalopolis – Financial Information].
- ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Chang, Justin (May 16, 2024). [TBA "The Madly Captivating Urban Sprawl of Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis"] Check
|url=value (help). The New Yorker. Retrieved July 8, 2024. Check|archive-url=value (help) - ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Wise, Damon (May 16, 2024). [TBA Megalopolis Review: Francis Ford Coppola's Mad Modern Masterwork Reinvents the Possibilities of Cinema – Cannes Film Festival].
- ↑ Ebiri, Bilge (May 16, 2024). [TBA Megalopolis is a Work of Absolute Madness].
- ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (May 17, 2024). [TBA Megalopolis, Cannes review: Francis Ford Coppola's $120M Self-Funded Epic is No Car Crash].
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Rooney, David (May 16, 2024). [TBA Megalopolis Review: Francis Ford Coppola's Passion Project Starring Adam Driver is a Staggeringly Ambitious Big Swing, if Nothing Else].
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Tallerico, Brian (September 11, 2024). [TBA Megalopolis].
- ↑ Janz, Madeleine (August 22, 2024). [TBA What Is Megalopolis About? Everything to Know About Francis Ford Coppola's $120 Million Project].
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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External links[]
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