Francis Ford Coppola says you “can’t put a label” on Megalopolis

While the first reviews for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis didn’t exactly paint the ambitious project as an instant classic, it does appear to be something different from the usual blockbuster and that’s just how Coppola wants it.

“The movie business tries to encourage everyone to think that there’s only one way a movie can be,” Coppola told Empire. “It has to have a protagonist, then, in the first few minutes, it has to have an antagonist. They are prescribing a formula that they’ll be able to sell over and over again. So when a movie comes along that doesn’t fit that formula and they don’t think it’s a new formula that can be repeated, they don’t want to do it because they feel there’s too much risk.“

Coppola continued, “As we know, the art we revere — Bizet’s Carmen, artists like Picasso, Monet and Matisse — is art that in its time was considered too risky or a failure. Apocalypse Now is a perfect example. When it came out, people said, ,‘What the hell is this?’ But they never stopped going to see it. With Megalopolis you can’t put a label on it. And that’s great. That’s the kind of film I like.“

Will Megalopolis join the ranks of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now as one of Coppola’s best movies? Time will tell, but no matter what you ultimately feel about the film, it will likely be an experience you won’t regret taking.

A new trailer for Megalopolis was released last week, but it was pulled just hours later when it became apparent that the quotes from negative reviews of Coppola’s previous movies, such as The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, had been faked. “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis,” said a Lionsgate spokesperson. “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.“

The official synopsis for Megalopolis reads: “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.” The film is currently slated to hit theaters on September 27th.