What IsMegalopolisAbout? Everything to Know About Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 Million Project

Mar. 15, 2025

Adam Driver in ‘Megalopolis’.Photo:Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Francis Ford Coppolastarted working on his next film over 40 years ago.

The iconic director began research on his Roman-inspired science fiction movieMegalopolisin the late 1970s after he finishedApocalypse Now. After many delays and false starts — including 300 script rewrites — Coppola’s dystopian film premiered at theCannes Film Festivalin May 2024.

With an all-star cast includingAdam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel,Aubrey Plaza,Shia LaBeouf, Dustin Hoffman,Jon Voightand Laurence Fishburne, fans and critics have eagerly awaited Coppola’s first film in 13 years.

Megalopolisis even a family affair with Coppola’s sister Talia Shire, nephewJason Schwartzmanand granddaughterRomy Marsall appearing.

The highly-anticipated movie, premiering in the fall of 2024, was born from Coppola’s desire to make a movie about a collapsing empire based on a moment from Roman history called the Catilinarian Conspiracy, in which Lucius Sergius Catilina was said to have planned a coup to overthrow Marcus Tullius Cicero, failed and was publicly shamed.

Megalopolistakes pieces from this story, which has been highly contested throughout history, and places it in a glamorous, old-timey version of New York City.

“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,”  Coppola toldVanity Fairin May 2024. “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.”

The director added that he wants viewers to leave the film wondering, “Is the society in which we live the only one available to us?”

Here’s everything to know about Francis Ford Coppola’sMegalopolis.

What isMegalopolisabout?

Aubrey Plaza in ‘Megalopolis’.Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Coppola’s passion project follows three main characters as they fight for power in a declining empire, called New Rome.

The politician’s daughter Julia (Emmanuel), on the other hand, isn’t sure how to feel or what to believe amid the strife. These dynamics play out over the two hour and eighteen minute film which leans heavily on the science fiction genre and a strong historical influence.

In 2000, when he was working on the film’s script, Coppola shared some insight onMegalopolis’ plot.

“This script takes the position that modern New York, which is to say modern America, is amazingly the counterpart of Republican Rome,” the director toldScenario. “I’ve taken a very famous and very mysterious incident in Roman history from the period of the Republic, not the Empire, called the Catiline Conspiracy.”

Coppola has said he found inspiration in this fraught moment in Roman history.

Who is in theMegalopoliscast?

Adam Driver attends the White Noise New York Film Festival Opening Night Screening on September 30, 2022. ; Shia LaBeouf attends the “Megalopolis” Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024. ; Aubrey Plaza at the Deadline Disruptors on the Croisette Party during the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2024.Monica Schipper/Getty ; Mike Marsland/WireImage ; Michael Buckner/Deadline/Getty

Monica Schipper/Getty ; Mike Marsland/WireImage ; Michael Buckner/Deadline/Getty

Megalopolisfeatures an ensemble cast of high-profile actors hailing from a variety of genres.

Other notable cast members include Fishburne as both the narrator and Catalina’s driver, Coppola’s sister, Shire, as the architect’s mother and Schwartzman as a member of the corrupt mayor’s crew.

Poor Thingsactress Kathryn Hunter,America’s Got TalentwinnerGrace VanderWaal,Saturday Night Live’sChloe Finemanand Hoffman also have roles in the film. Coppola’s granddaughter Mars even makes an appearance inMegalopolisas a reporter.

The Godfatherdirector has given the cast a lot of credit for bringing his story to life. “We made it together — I didn’t make the film,” he said during a Cannes press conference, perThe New York Times. “When you make a film like this, I didn’t know how to do it, let’s face it. The movie makes itself.”

Many actorsreportedly did table readsfor the film over the 40 years since Coppola started working onMegalopolis, includingJon Hamm. The director also toldVarietyhe was consideringRussell Crowe,Robert De Niro,Nicolas CageandPaul Newmanfor the film in 2001.

Is there aMegalopolistrailer?

‘Megalopolis’.Francis Ford Coppola/American Zoetrope

Coppola shareda short clipof his upcoming film on his YouTube channel in early May 2024. The 2-minute long video shows Catalina standing on the roof of what appears to be the Chrysler Building in New York City.

After Driver’s character nearly jumps over the edge, he shouts “time stop” hinting at his powers to control the clock.

Two weeks later, Coppola’s YouTube account publisheda shorter trailer. The video begins with a narrator saying “When does an empire die?” and shows bits of the film, including LaBeouf yelling “We are taking our city back” and Plaza lounging in Roman attire, eating fruit.

In August 2024, Lionsgate released the first official trailer forMegalopolisonly to recall it hours later after discovering that fake movie review quotes were used.

“We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process.We screwed up. We are sorry," a spokesperson for the distributor told PEOPLE.

What has Coppola said aboutMegalopolis?

The famed director has been working onMegalopolissince finishing his iconic war filmApocalypse Nowin 1979. Over the years, he has talked about his passion project and even spent $120 million of his own funds to getMegalopolismade.

Coppola wanted to reimagine the historical moment of the Catilinarian Conspiracy for his next film.

“In history, Catiline lost and was killed and Cicero survived. But since the survivor tells the story, I wondered, what if what Catiline had in mind for his new society was a realignment of those in power, and could it have even been ‘visionary’ and ‘good,’ while Cicero perhaps could have been ‘reactionary’ and ‘bad,’ ” he toldVanity Fairin May 2024.

Beyond the historical inspiration for the film, Coppola has also cited the H.G. Wells-written film,Things to Come, as an important influence onMegalopolis.

“This … classic is about building the world of tomorrow, and has always been with me, first as the ‘boy scientist’ I was and later as a filmmaker,” he said.

Will movie theaters includeMegalopolis’ viral fourth wall scene?

Grace VanderWaal, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Francis Ford Coppola, Romy Croquet Mars, Adam Driver, and Nathalie Emmanuel attend the “Megalopolis” Red Carpet at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024.Samir Hussein/WireImage

Samir Hussein/WireImage

One of the buzziest moments of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival was during the premiere ofMegalopoliswhen an actor walked onstage in front of the screen and engaged with Driver’s character in the film.

Coppola called this choice “in-theater ‘live cinema’ ” in the description ofMegalopolis’ trailer on YouTube.

“We certainly will do a lot of such performances,” the company’s president Jean Labadie toldDeadlinein May 2024. “With four screenings a day in many theaters it will not be easy to do it for each screening.”

When willMegalopolisbe released?

Megalopolispremiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024, and acquired Lionsgate as an international distributor in June 2024.

The film will premiere in IMAX on Sept. 27, 2024.

source: people.com