Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis First Look Revealed

One of this year’s most mysterious films finally has a first look. On Tuesday, Francis Ford Coppola took to Instagram to reveal a title card for Megalopolis, his new epic film that is expected to arrive in theaters at some point in 2024. While the title card, as well as the leaning statue and city street that appear to be behind it, do not provide a lot of teases of Megalopolis‘ plot, they still begin to establishing the world of Coppola’s ambitious new project.

Megalopolis is somewhat of a passion project for Coppola, who has been financing almost all of the film’s $100 million budget himself. The film has previously made headlines for reports that the film’s budget has ballooned significantly, and entire departments on the film’s crew have either fired or resigned. The reported budget exceeds $120 million.

What Is Megalopolis About?

The plot of Megalopolis largely remains under wraps, but the film is reportedly set in an alternate reality version of New York City dubbed “New Rome.” In the film, the fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius and conflicted love. The ensemble cast for Megalopolis includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Chloe Fineman, Kathryn Hunter, Giancarlo Esposito Dustin Hoffman, DB Sweeney, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Bailey Ives, Grace Vanderwaal, and James Remar.

“What would make me really happy? It’s not winning a lot of Oscars because I already have a lot and maybe more than I deserve,” Coppola said of his career in a 2022 interview. “And it’s not that I make a lot of money, although I think over time it will make a lot of money because anything that the people keep looking at and finding new things, that makes money. So somewhere down the line, way after I’m gone, all I want is for them to discuss [Megalopolis] and, is the society we’re living in the only one available to us? How can we make it better? Education, mental health? What the movie really is proposing is that utopia is not a place. It’s how can we make everything better? Every year, come up with two, three or four ideas that make it better.”

“I would be smiling in my grave if I thought something like that happened, because people talk about what movies really mean if you give them something,” Coppola continued. “If you encouraged people to discuss marriage and education and health and justice and opportunities and freedom and all these wonderful things that human beings have conceived of. And ask the question, how can we make it even better? That would be great. Because I bet you they would make it better if they had that conversation.”

When Will Megalopolis Be Released?

While an exact release date has yet to be announced, Coppola confirmed during a recent appearance on the Accutron podcast that the film is aiming for a 2024 release date.

“It’s only going to be a few months and it’ll be out,” Coppola revealed. “All I can say is I love the actors in it. It’s unusual, and it’s never boring. Other than that, wait and see.”

What do you think of the first look at Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!