The wait is finally over as the first look image of Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ has been revealed.
The project follows the rebuilding of a metropolis after it has fallen into decline, with two competing visions–one from the idealist architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), the other from corrupt Mayor Frank Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito–colliding.
The first official image from Megalopolis reveals Driver eyeing a rebuilding of the City of New Rome, while Nathalie Emmanuel, as Julia Cicero, the socialite daughter of Mayor Cicero, looks on. Megalopolis is structured as a Roman epic fable set in an imagined modern America, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
Francis Ford Coppola reportedly first conceived the idea for this sci-fi movie way back in 1983. He started the project, and put his own money, but was forced to leave it before much development. After almost four decades, Coppola launched it once again with his own money.
The ensemble cast for Megalopolis includes Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman and Talia Shire. Coppola directed, wrote and produced the film, with Fred Roos, Barry Hirsch and Michael Bederman producing.
Francis Ford Coppola revealed in a preview of “Megalopolis” in Vanity Fair that he rewrote the script around 300 times before self-financing the passion project for USD 120 million by selling part of his winery estate in Northern California, Variety reported.
“I wasn’t really working on this screenplay for 40 years as I often see written, but rather I was collecting notes and clippings for a scrapbook of things I found interesting for some future screenplay, or examples of political cartoons or different historical subjects,” Coppola told Vanity Fair about the project’s development. “Ultimately, after a lot of time, I settled on the idea of a Roman epic. And then later, a Roman epic set in modern America, so I really only began writing this script, on and off, in the last dozen years or so. Also, as I have made many films of many different subjects and in many different styles, I hoped for a project later in life when I might better understand what my personal style was,” he shared.
“Early on, I remember once I took 130 blank pages and put on a title page boldly announcing ‘Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis,’ and under that, ‘All Roads Lead to Rome.’ I pretended it wasn’t totally blank, weighing it in my hands so I could imagine what one day it would feel like, and believe one day it could exist. Then later, once I had a draft, I must have rewritten it 300 times, hoping each rewrite would improve it, if only a half per cent better,” Coppola added.
The production of ‘Megalopolis’ was wrapped last year. The film is scheduled to be screened in competition in Cannes on May 17 in a gala premiere at the 77th annual festival.