megalopolis, the next film from legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, is set to begin filming in August. A long-awaited heart project for the director, megalopolis was a film Coppola wanted to make since its release apocalypse now in 1979 but never got off the ground. His closest came in 2001, when the 9/11 attacks indefinitely halted production, having already filmed footage of the second unit. Finally, in April 2019, Coppola officially announced that he would take over megalopolis and would even fund itself, putting over $100 million into the film.
While plot details are few and far between, Coppola has said the film will be a Roman epic transported into the future. Set in devastated New York, the film explores the struggle between the idealistic architect who wants to rebuild the city and the conservative mayor who is trying to destroy his reputation. Coppola also added that it’s a love story about a woman torn between two men, her father and her father’s enemy. Although there is a long list of names once rumored to appear in it megalopolis including Robert De Niro and Nicolas Cage who megalopolis The cast was officially announced recently and consists of Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Adam Driver and Nathalie Emanuel.
In conversation with diversity in Cannes, Whitaker has now given an update on the production schedule for megalopolis, and said filming would begin in August. He also says the cast is coming together and that he likes the script, showing optimism about the project’s success. Regarding the plot, Whitaker reveals little, but only substantiates the previously known details about the power struggle between two different people.
Optimism will be important there megalopolis is quite a gamble. Original ideas currently fare poorly at the box office, and with no popular source material to draw from or a franchise to jump off of, it’s no surprise that the film had to be independently financed. However, gambling is nothing new to Coppola and the director had to make great sacrifices to see the production apocalypse now through to the end. So it could be that this project follows a similar pattern and proves extremely successful, eh apocalypse now eventually grossed over $100 million at the box office, despite its $30 million budget, and is considered one of the greatest films of all time.
Whether Coppola’s gamble will pay off remains to be seen, though megalopolis will surely be one to watch out for. Original ideas, while risky, are definitely in demand in today’s film landscape. It can be argued megalopolis highlights Hollywood’s franchise woes, and should the film succeed, this could be the moment that inspires studios to look beyond sequels and reboots. One can hope so, for Coppola’s sake megalopolis mirror apocalypse nowoverwhelming success, but also avoids the problematic production, since otherwise he might have to dig even deeper into his pocket than he already has.
Source: Variety
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