Francis Ford Coppola has finally shared the first MEGALOPOLIS official trailer ahead of the long-awaited film’s debut this week at the Cannes Film Festival.
The official trailer starts off with a narrator pondering the decline of empires, “When does an empire die? Does it collapse in one terrible moment? No, no. But there comes a time when people no longer believe in it.”
The new trailer promptly cuts to scenes of a Roman chariot race, a big metropolitan cityscape, and various other scenes of protest and more. The new film is teased as a Roman Epic set in a reimagined, modern American city.
“Our new film MEGALOPOLIS is the best work I’ve ever had the privilege to preside over,” reads a quote from director Francis Ford Coppola, who has invested $120 million of his own money into finally making the film a reality.
Originally thought up by Coppola back in the 1980s, the film was finally started back up again in 2019 and filming was completed from November 2022 through March 2023. MEGALOPOLIS is Coppola’s first to direct a feature film since 2011’s Twixt.
MEGALOPOLIS will have an ensemble cast including Adam Driver alonside Nathalie Emmanuel, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, and D. B. Sweeney.
The official synopsis 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 (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”
Here’s a look at the first MEGALOPOLIS official trailer:
MEGALOPOLIS will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival with its first screening on May 17th, 2024.
