“Megalopolis” wasn’t just one of the most singular, consternating, and ambitious movies of 2024, but of recent memory. A self-funded $120+ million opus from Francis Ford Coppola with big themes, even more audacious performances, and a go-for-broke attitude? Box office disaster or not, the film was a long-awaited dream come true for the legendary director, and the story of its making deserves a movie in its own right.
And that’s exactly what audiences at the Venice Film Festival will get less than two months from now with Mike Figgis‘ “Megadoc.” The first doc from the “Leaving Las Vegas” director since 2019’s “Somebody Up There Likes Me,” “Megadoc” takes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of FFC’s passion project, including interviews with the film’s ensemble cast.
Here’s an official synopsis for “Megadoc,” courtesy of Utopia:
A raw, fly-on-the-wall documentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-long journey in creating his self-financed passion project, Megalopolis. The bold and unrelenting epic returns in Mike Figgis’ portrait of Coppola’s creative process – weaving together archival material, unfiltered cast interviews, and a close-up view of how the legendary filmmaker drew from Roman history, political allegory, and his own singular vision to shape the world of Megalopolis. This isn’t a record of a production on the brink, it’s a personal memoir unfolding in real time.
Interviewees in “Megadoc” include Coppola, Eleanor Coppola, and “Megalopolis” cast members Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, Chloe Fineman, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Talia Shire, and Robert De Niro.
Producers on “Megadoc” Tara Li-An and James Mockoski, with Anahid Nazarian, Barrbie Osborne, and Darren Demetre serving as executive producers.
Stay tuned for when and how “Megadoc” reaches general audiences after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
