Megalopolis: Coppola’s passion project casts Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, and more

After 20 years of trial and toil, Francis Ford Coppola is making Megalopolis, the long-gestating independently-financed film that’s been his dream for ages. Adam Driver (Marriage Story), Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland), Nathalie Emmanuel (Fast X), Jon Voight (Varsity Blues), and Laurence Fishburne (John Wick) have been cast in the leading roles.

Described by Coppola as a contemporary drama, Megalopolis focuses on the fate of Rome as it haunts a modern world unable to solve its social problems in an epic story of political ambition, genius, and conflicting interests.

The budget lands shy of $100 million, with production beginning in the fall. Francis Ford Coppola started to write Megalopolis in the 1980s. Still, he recognized that it would require a huge budget to match its massive scope, so it sat on a shelf for decades until he finally decided to give it another shot in 2001. Coppola began shooting second-unit footage but decided to pull the plug after the 9/11 attacks. As the story revolved around the reconstruction of New York City following a major disaster, he felt that such a project would not sit well with audiences so soon after the real-life tragedy.

“I’m committed to making this movie, and I’d like to make it in the fall of 2022. I don’t have all my cast approved, but I have enough of them to have confidence that it is going to be a very exciting cast. The picture’s going to cost between $100 million and $120 million. Needless to say, I hope it’s closer to $100 million. I’m prepared to match some outside financing, almost dollar for dollar. In other words, I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is. What’s interesting about that is that there was a documentary about my dream studio, when I owned Zoetrope Studios and I was unafraid to risk everything I had in order to make my dream come true. Well, I really haven’t changed my personality at all,” Coppola previously told Deadline.

Coppola continued, “I think the big news here is that I am still the same as I was 20 years ago or 40 years ago. I’m still willing to do the dream picture, even if I have to put up my own money, and I am capable of putting up $100 million if I have to here. I don’t want to, but I will do it if I have to.” Although Megalopolis is set in a contemporary city and explores modern themes, it has its roots in ancient Rome. “The concept of the film is a Roman epic, in the traditional Cecile B. DeMille or Ben-Hur way, but told as a modern counterpart focusing on America,” Coppola said. “It’s based on The Catiline Conspiracy, which comes to us from ancient Rome. This was a famous duel between a patrician, Catiline, and that part will be played by Oscar Isaac, and the famous Cicero, who will be Forest Whitaker. He is now the beleaguered mayor of New York, during a financial crisis, close to the one that Mayor Dinkins had. This story takes place in a new Rome, a Roman epic set in modern times. The time set is not a specific year in modern New York, it’s an impression of modern New York, which I call New Rome.”

Are you excited that Coppola’s Megalopolis is finally getting off the ground? Who else do you think will join the cast? Feel free to let us know in the comments section below.