By More details on the reaction to filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s long-gestating and self-financed epic “Megalopolis” have emerged following its first screening yesterday in Los Angeles.
As previously reported, the film begins with the destruction of a New York City-like metropolis. That’s followed by two clashing visions of rebuilding – an ambitious architectural idealist named Cesar (Adam Driver) who wants to build a utopia with renewable materials, and the city’s mayor Frank Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) who wants a more business-as-usual rebuild strategy.
Multiple executives from studios, streamers and more were on hand for the screening of the $120 million feature and a report from Puck News’ Matt Belloni (via Nick Field & World of Reel) is even wilder than expected.
One attendee reportedly said that the film is a mix of “Ayn Rand, Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ and Tinto Brass’ ‘Caligula’” and that it is “unflinching in how bats— crazy it is”.
One sequence toward the end involving Jon Voight and Aubrey Plaza’s characters is, according to several attendees, “one of the most baffling they’ve ever seen” and everyone agrees the film will be a “tough sell” as it has “zero commercial prospects”.
A tweet from the Beyond Fest account on social media says they saw the film and: “There’s never been, or ever will be, a director as crazy as Francis Ford Coppola. What a privilege to be on the same planet as him.”
Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Chloe Fineman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, D.B., Sweeney, Jason Schwartzman, Baily Ives, Grace Vanderwaal and James Remar also star in the film.
Coppola is aiming to find distribution and secure a release strategy before he sets up the film’s premiere at a festival.
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