Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola is back, baby. That’s all you need to know. Well actually, there’s quite a bit more to it….
How to watch Megalopolis in New Zealand
Megalopolis is in New Zealand cinemas right now. Go! Run!
Megalopolis
What is Megalopolis about?
Jesus Christ, how long have you got? In essence, Megalopolis is a science fiction parable that retells the fall of the Roman Republic (well, technically the Catilinarian Conspiracy, which was a bit before) in a near future United States. After the majestic city of New Rome, which looks an awful lot like New York City, is devastated, idealistic architect Cesar Catalina is granted almost limitless power—including the ability to manipulate space and time, it seems—to rebuild the place, shaping it into a utopia.
Opposing him is hidebound conservative mayor Franklyn cicero, and stuck between them is his daughter, socialite Julia Cicero. If you know your classical history, things don’t end well. But maybe Coppola shakes things up a little.
The cast of Megalopolis
Take a deep breath: Adam Driver is visionary architect Cesar Catilina; Giancarlo Esposito is Mayor Franklyn Cicero; Kathryn Hunter is Teresa Cicero, his wife; Nathalie Emmanuel is Julia Cicero, Franklyn’s daughter and Cesar’s romantic interest; Aubrey Plaza is TV star Wow Platinum; Shia LaBeouf is Clodio Pulcher, Cesar’s treacherous cousin; Jon Voight is Cesar’s rich uncle, banker Hamilton Crassus III; Laurence Fishburne is Fundi Romaine, Cesar’s driver and the film’s narrator; Talia Shire is Constance Crassus Catilina, Cesar’s mother; with Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, Isabelle Kusman, Bailey Ives, Madeleine Gardella, Balthazar Getty, Romy Mars, Haley Sims, and Dustin Hoffman filling out the sprawling ensemble.
Megalopolis trailer
Why we’re excited about Megalopolis
Look, it’s been in development for over 40 years, suffered several false starts due to Coppola’s faltering film fortunes and… uh… 9/11, eventually got made because Coppola sold off a chunk of his wineries to stump up $120 million of his own money, went through a fraught production marked by countless creative clashes and changes of direction (aka A Francis Ford Coppola Film), has baffled and divided critics and audiences alike, is either a grand creative vision or an incredibly hubristic folly. And it’s probably the 85 year old auteur’s final film. How could you not be excited? Whether it’s any good is almost irrelevant.
