Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis will debut at Cannes Film Festival

Deadline reports that Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis will officially premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17th.

The project has been a long time coming, as Coppola began writing Megalopolis back in the 1980s but recognized that it would require a huge budget to match its massive scope, so it sat on a shelf for decades. In order to get the film made, he put his own money on the line, reportedly upwards of $120 million. The film also boasts quite a star-studded ensemble cast, which includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Chloe Fineman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, DB Sweeney, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Bailey Ives, Grace Vanderwaal, and James Remar.

“An accident causes the destruction of a New York City-like metropolis that is decaying anyway, bringing clashing visions of the future,” reads Deadline’s description. “On one side is an ambitious architectural idealist Caesar (Adam Driver). On the other is his sworn enemy, city Mayor Frank Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). The debate becomes whether to embrace the future and build a utopia with renewable materials, or take a business-as-usual rebuild strategy, replete with concrete, corruption and power brokering at the expense of a restless underclass. In between their struggle is the mayor’s socialite daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a restless young woman who grew up around power and tires of being a tabloid fixture looking for meaning in her life.“

Megalopolis is still searching for a distributor. However, a recent report stated that it might be an “uphill battle” as the project has been deemed “too ‘experimental’ and ‘not good’ enough for the $100 million marketing spend envisioned by the legendary director.” The film received a standing ovation during a recent screening, and while Coppola’s passion project is highly anticipated by many, there are doubts regarding its mainstream success. A potential distributor said, “There is just no way to position this movie.” Another viewer said, “Does it wobble, wander, go all over the place? Yes. But it’s really imaginative and does say something about our time. I think it’s going to be a small specialized label [that picks it up].“

We should know more about Megalopolis following its Cannes debut, but I’ve got my fingers crossed for Coppola!