Every cinephile in the world knows the name of Francis Ford Coppola. The director who gave us Godfather, Apocalypse Now and The Conversation. Coppola had not been involved in any projects for a long time. But the lion is not dead yet. Coppola is back in the tabloids with Megapolis. In fact, Coppola is willing to spend his own millions of dollars on the project.
“Fresh from the Vineyard”
Coppola’s long-rumored epic Megalopolis may not be the fantasy many fans thought it was. Coppola has already begun pre-production on the massively-scaled movie. So far, the problem has been that getting finance for such an expensive project. With such an uncommercial premise, it has been tough. He believes that if he has no other alternative, he’ll tap into his huge vineyard wealth to cover the costs.
New Rome
Coppola describes his concept as “a Roman epic, in the conventional Cecile B DeMille or Ben-Hur manner but portrayed as a modern equivalent concentrating on America.” He goes on to say that it will be a modern-day retelling of the battle between two Roman patricians. Restyled as a struggle between a David Dinkinsesque mayoral figure in a financial-crisis-stricken New York. A fusion-world Coppola refers to as “New Rome.”
Wishlist
Regardless of how much time has passed since his previous film. The Coppola name still draws A-level actors lined up for a chance to work with him, as seen by his laundry list of prospective and hoped-for casting. He’s in talks to cast Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Cate Blanchett, Jon Voight, and his old buddy James Caan. Among others his wish list includes Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jessica Lange.
Megalopolis has been a long time in the making, with the early stages of production halted when the New York that Coppola envisioned was permanently transformed by the events of 9/11. “…everyone wants to produce the next Marvel movie, but no one wants to make a picture that truly communicates to young people in a positive way, that we are in a position to join together and tackle any challenge thrown at us,” he says of his new project.
