The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation are just a few of the cinematic milestones which have cemented Francis Ford Coppola as one of the greatest directors of all time, and even though he is 82 and hasn’t directed a film since 2016’s Distant Vision, the legendary helmer is still harbouring ambitions to film his decades in the making epic Megalopolis.
In an exclusive report by Deadline it is revealed that Coppola is hoping to finally make his “dream picture” in the fall of 2022, telling them “I don’t have all my cast approved, but I have enough of them to have confidence that it is going to be a very exciting cast. The picture’s going to cost between $100 million and $120 million. Needless to say, I hope it’s closer to $100 million. I’m prepared to match some outside financing, almost dollar for dollar. In other words, I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is.”
The cast in question is reported to include Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker and Cate Blanchett, with Coppola also hoping to convince Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jessica Lange to join his dream project. Megalopolis will also reunite him with The Godfather‘s James Caan, who famously played Sonny Corleone in that revered set of films.
Megalopolis is the story of an architect who wants to rebuild New York City as a utopia following a devastating disaster. Coppola said of the plot that: “This story takes place in a new Rome, a Roman epic sent in modern times. The time set is not a specific year in modern New York, it’s an impression of modern New York, which I call New Rome. The concept of the film is a Roman epic, in the traditional Cecile B. DeMille or Ben-Hur way, but told as a modern counterpart focusing on America,” he continued “It’s based on The Catiline Conspiracy, which comes to us from ancient Rome. This was a famous duel between a patrician, Catiline, and that part will be played by Oscar Isaac, and the famous Cicero, who will be Forest Whitaker.”
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The project has been around for years, with Manhattan pre-production shutting down following the events of 9/11, so who knows whether it will ever be realised in the way that Coppola so passionately speaks about. Let us know what you think about this news by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
