‘Megalopolis’ Screened For First Time Today For Distributors At CityWalk IMAX

https://deadline.com/2024/03/francis-coppola-megalopolis-first-screening-distributors-citywalk-imax-1235871124/

Some 20 years after it was took root in the imagination of Francis Ford Coppola, Megalopolis screened this morning for the very first time. Held at the Universal CityWalk IMAX Theater, the epic film screened for buyers, and had every distributor in attendance. Also in tow were family friends and filmmakers, a list included Angelica Huston, Nicolas Cage, Andy Garcia, Spike Jonze, Al Pacino, Jon Favreau, Colleen Camp, Roger Corman, Darren Aronofsky, Cailee Spaeny and cast members Shia LaBeouf and Talia Shire.

I was there also, and what can I say about the movie when I promised Coppola I would not do anything approximating a review? Coppola’s new film is crackling with ideas that fuse the past with the future, with an epic and highly visual drama that plays perfectly on an IMAX screen. He covers complex themes in a remarkably brief two hours and 13 minutes, not including credits. The destruction of a New York City-like metropolis after an accident pits clashing visions of the future, with an ambitious architectural idealist Cesar (Adam Driver) on one side. On the other is his sworn enemy, city Mayor Frank Cisero (Giancarlo Esposito). The debate becomes whether to embrace the future and build a utopia with renewable materials, or take the business-as-usual rebuild strategy, replete with corruption and power brokering. In between their struggle is the mayor’s socialite daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a restless young woman who grew up around power and is looking for meaning in her life.

If I could leave you with one thought after you see my new film, it would be this: Our founders borrowed a Constitution, Roman Law, and Senate for their revolutionary government without a king, so American History could neither have taken place nor succeed as it did without classical learning to guide it.”

Soon we will see how Megalopolis scored with distributors. Stay tuned.