What Megalopolis Is Actually About: Francis Ford Coppola's New Movie Explained

Summary Trailer for Coppola's Megalopolis reveals post-apocalyptic city rebuilding plot with supernatural elements and star-studded cast.

Coppola invests $120 million, starring Adam Driver as an architect, pitted against Giancarlo Esposito's mayor in a clash of ideologies.

Megalopolis features magical themes with time manipulation, investigates the clash between utopian vision and personal ambition in a devastated city.

A trailer for Francis Ford Coppola's long-awaited Megalopolis has finally been released, revealing more key details about the film's ambiguous plot. Coppola, the legendary director of Apocalypse Now (1979), The Godfather (1972), and The Godfather: Part II (1972), has been celebrated for decades as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. Coppola hasn't directed a feature film since 2011's Twixt, which was one of the most poorly reviewed movies of his directorial career, earning a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 30%. Coppola aims to return in a big way with his sweeping epic and passion project Megalopolis.

The recently released trailer of Coppla's new movie arrives days before the film is set to premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024. Coppola began to officially develop Megalopolis in 1983 after conceiving the idea during the production of Apocolypse Now and even held table reads for the project back in 2001. Second-unit production took place in New York City during the 9/11 attacks, which greatly altered the course of the film. Coppola reportedly invested $120 million of his own money into the production of Megalopolis, much of which he accrued through his popular winery.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Megalopolis Is About A City Rebuilding After A Cataclysmic Event

The trailer shows glimpses of a potential satellite falling from the sky

Close

Based on the trailer, the cataclysmic event that destroys New Rome appears to be some type of meteor shower or artillery strike that makes a direct impact on the city.

Megalopolis will center around a decaying city called New Rome, which shares many similarities to New York City. New Rome is in part destroyed by a terrible accident, which at one point in the screenplay was confirmed to be a satellite falling out of the sky. Based on the trailer, the cataclysmic event that destroys New Rome appears to be some type of meteor shower or artillery strike that makes a direct impact on the city. The plot then delves into how the city will rebuild after the event through the eyes of Adam Driver's Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect striving for utopia.

Megalopolis will feature an ensemble cast led by Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Franklyn Cicero, Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero, Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum, Shia LaBeouf as Clodio Pulcher, Jon Voight as Hamilton Crassus III, Jason Schwartzman as Jason Zanderz, Laurence Fishburne as Fundi Romaine, and Dustin Hoffman as Nush "The Fixer" Berman. Driver's Cesar protagonist also has the ability to manipulate time, adding a layer of supernatural realism to the film. The in-story logic of Cesar's time manipulation remains undefined in the trailer alone but will likely be a major theme throughout Megalopolis.

Related Megalopolis Looks Like Francis Ford Coppola Finally Made A Star Wars Movie Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious new sci-fi epic Megalopolis looks like George Lucas' old producing partner has finally made a Star Wars movie.

Megalopolis' Story Pits An Architect (Adam Driver) Against A Mayor (Giancarlo Esposito)

The story is partially inspired by the Catilinarian conspiracy of Ancient Rome

Image via Caesar Film LLC

Cesar has a vision of building New Rome into some kind of utopia, which he likely demonstrates through his abilities as an architect, while Cicero is supremely invested in keeping New Rome as it is.

Cesar will be pitted against the mayor of New Rome in Megalopolis, a man named Franklyn Cicero (Esposito). While it's unclear exactly how they will interact and clash in the film at this time, the two characters will have different ideologies about the future of New Rome. Cesar has a vision of building New Rome into some kind of utopia, which he likely demonstrates through his abilities as an architect, while Cicero is supremely invested in keeping New Rome as it is, likely for some type of personal benefit such as power, money, or influence. Cicero's daughter, Julia (Emmanuel), finds herself somewhere in the middle.

The plot of Megalopolis is partially inspired by the Catilinarian conspiracy of Ancient Rome. This is evidenced not only by the last name of Espoito's character or the name of the city "New Rome", but also by Shia Lebouf's character, Clodio Pulcher, who seems to be an embodiment of the populist Roman politician and street agitator, Publius Clodius Pulcher. The real-life Pulcher clashed with Cicero, the famous elected Roman official. Cesar's last name, Catalina, implies that he may lead a coup to overthrow Mayor Cicero in Megalopolis. The real-life Cicero was exiled for executing five conspirators without trial based on a law enacted by Pulcher.

Related Francis Ford Coppola's 2024 Sci-Fi Movie Pays Off The Godfather's First Line 52 Years Later Francis Ford Coppola’s new movie is worth getting excited about if only for its connection to a famous line from The Godfather’s first scene.

Megalopolis Has A Big Supernatural Element To It

Cesar is the only character who engages with the magical themes

Image via Caesar Film LLC

Cesar asks in the trailer, "Is this society, is this way we're living, the only one that's available to us?", implying that he has the ability to perceive and imagine things outside of reality in Megalopolis.

The biggest unanswered question from the Megalopolis trailers is how Cesar is able to manipulate time and whether these supernatural elements are real or imagined. The various moving statues seen throughout Megalopolis add another element of the supernatural throughout the film, although it's very clear that Cesar is the only character who engages with these magical themes. Cesar also asks in the trailer, "Is this society, is this way we're living, the only one that's available to us?", implying that he has the ability to perceive and imagine things outside of reality in Megalopolis.

Your browser does not support the video tag.

Related Adam Driver Has Become The King Of Getting "Unfilmable" Movies Made With the upcoming epic Megalopolis, Adam Driver has become the patron saint of getting famous filmmaker's passion projects off the ground.

Source: World History Encyclopedia