©Photo by Mike Longhi
Francis Ford Coppola’s epic “Megalopolis,”which debuts at Cannes this week, has reportedly already secured distribution deals in Europe.
Le Pacte will be distributing the film in France, says its president, Jean Labadie, who has described “Megalopolis, a “spectacular” film with a “unique visual universe.” He was quoted as saying that Coppola’s $120 million self-funded project has also secured distribution deals with agents in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Labadie also noted that his contract stipulates that the film cannot be distributed in France until it’s first been released in the United States. It’s been rumored that Amazon and Apple are among the studios hoping to seal the deal domestically.
Megalopolis has been a “passion project” since the 1980s for Coppola, who is now 83. The movie is a dystopic film about the rebuilding of New York City after it’s been devastated by a natural disaster. Its star-studded cast includes Adam Driver, Forrest Whittaker, Jon Voight, Nathalie Emmanuel, Laurence Fishbourne, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, Talia Shire, and Dustin Hoffman.
With a nod to the Catilinian conspiracy in ancient Rome, Megalopolis explores the conflicts between the agendas of a visionary architect and a corrupt mayor in the struggle to rebuild the devastated city of New York/New Rome. Coppola wants to point out the perils of poor urban planning, environmental neglect, and inattention to human dignity which ultimately led to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Driver, who plays the role of Caesar, has been quoted as saying that the “wild” film is “so imaginative and big and epic, and it’s bold. It takes a risk, and I couldn’t be more excited by it.” In an interview with Collider, the actor declared, “[I]t has been one of the best – without hyperbole – best shooting experiences of my life. Watching [Coppola] work that crew, that design team, he has such a command over cinematic language and an archive in his mind of shots that are so beautiful. And doing something so ambitious, and on his own terms, that you would think that it would be dictatorial or really controlled, but he is the most warm, open, thoughtful, director…”
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