It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had an update about Francis Ford Coppola’s desire to bring his long-awaited passion project, “Megalopolis,” to the big screen. At the time, it appeared the filmmaker was searching for funding. Well, it appears Coppola isn’t willing to wait around and has already got the ball rolling on who he wants to star in his big-budget drama.
Deadline is reporting that Coppola hasn’t quite figured out the funding side of things for his feature, “Megalopolis,” but that isn’t stopping him from speaking with some serious A-listers about starring. The report claims the filmmaker has begun talks with James Caan, Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Cate Blanchett, Jon Voight, Zendaya, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jessica Lange to appear in his film that is expected to cost anywhere from $100 million to $120 million.
So, about that budget, it appears Coppola hasn’t quite landed the funding necessary to get the film in front of cameras. However, the legendary director is willing to put up any or all of the budget upfront just to make sure this film gets made.
“I’m committed to making this movie, I’d like to make it in the fall of 2022,” Coppola said. “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. What’s interesting about that is, there was a documentary about my dream studio, when I owned Zoetrope Studios and I was unafraid to risk everything I had in order to make my dream come true. Well, I really haven’t changed my personality, at all.”
For those confused why “Megalopolis” has taken so much time to get made, it appears the feature is a huge drama that tells a story similar to a Roman epic but set in modern-day America.
“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,” the filmmaker revealed. “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. He is now the beleaguered mayor of New York, during a financial crisis, close to the one that Mayor Dinkins had. This story takes place in a new Rome, a Roman epic set 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.”
Obviously, there’s still a lot of time between now and fall 2022, when Coppola is hoping to begin production. So, there’s still the chance he can land that financing and not have to risk a huge amount of money on the film. However, it does appear that “Megalopolis” is coming, no matter what. Even if it costs Coppola quite a bit of out-of-pocket cash.