Megalopolis: set pics tease Coppola’s passion project

Last Updated on February 8, 2023

Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is one of the most anticipated and mysterious films on the slate. While filming has begun, it will be some time before we get actual footage by way of a teaser. In the meantime, set photos have come out over the past couple weeks that show off the director and some of the key cast, including Adam Driver, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, and Jon Voight:

What exactly these Megalopolis photos depict remains a mystery–as does much of the movie, although Francis Ford Coppola offered some plot details last year. “It’s a love story…A woman is divided between loyalties to two men. But not only two men. Each man comes with a philosophical principle. One is her father who raised her, who taught her Latin on his lap and is devoted to a much more classical view of society, the Marcus Aurelius kind of view. The other one, who is the lover, is the enemy of the father but is dedicated to a much more progressive ‘Let’s leap into the future, let’s leap over all of this garbage that has contaminated humanity for 10,000 years. Let’s find what we really are, which are an enlightened, friendly, joyous species.’” Right…

Megalopolis was recently on the radar not over hype but bad publicity. Reportedly, the production was in major trouble, with a ballooning budget, delayed schedule and mass firings. Francis Ford Coppola quickly rebuked the reports, saying, “I am so happy with the look and that we are so on schedule. These reports never say who these sources are. To them, I say, ha, ha, just wait and see.” And then the 83-year-old director presumably blew a raspberry. Coppola did, however, defend kicking the VFX department to the curb, saying it came down to “managing cost.”

In addition to those featured in the photos above, the massive cast also includes Forest Whitaker, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, and the latest notable addition, Giancarlo Esposito.

Megalopolis is scheduled to finish filming in the spring. No release date has been set.

What do you think of the photos from Megalopolis? Are you going to see Francis Ford Coppola’s highly anticipated film?