Many questions abound as Francis Ford Coppola‘s self-budgeted epic “Megalopolis” heads into its Cannes debut. Will the film be received more generously than its LA industry screening in March? Will Coppola find a distributor for it on the Croisette? And will “Megalopolis” survive controversy and be a smash success at the festival much like Coppola’s 1979 masterwork “Apocalypse Now“?
IMAX is banking on “Megalopolis” no matter what happens after its premiere. IndieWire reports that IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond met with Coppola at Cannes and committed to giving the film a limited IMAX release, even though the movie still lacks a distributor. “We need to do more research, “said Gelfond, “but the movie will play to cinephiles and Coppola fans.” Maybe so, but with many in the industry scratching their heads over “Megalopolis,” will cinephilia be enough to put butts in IMAX seats for the film? A recent piece in The Guardian foretells possible doom for Coppola’s opus, describing how Coppola alienated cast and crew on the film’s set, as well as the film’s disastrous LA screening to industry buyers. Many consider the film “batshit,” impossible to market, and an imminent disaster for Coppola and his legacy.
But Coppola has faced this kind of adversity before, and in the case of “Apocalypse Now,” overcame the odds and shared the Palme d’Or at that year’s Cannes. And due to Coppola’s history at the festival, there are several industry players that think “Megalopolis” will succeed and find a distributor at Cannes. “The way that it’s been set up is they had a bozo screening for all the people who really don’t buy movies,” a source told Variety about the film’s LA screening. “They wouldn’t know a Bertolucci movie if it hit them in the butt. Now that they’re here [in Cannes], it’s an underdog movie. And everyone is kind of pulling for it.”
But Variety also reports that Coppola wants a distributor to give his “Megalopolis” a Q4 awards season theatrical run, a studio like A24 being an ideal fit. That may be too lofty an ambition for the director. Indie studios who screened the film already don’t like its chances beyond technical prizes this awards season. And as a self-budgeted film, “Megalopolis” has a large price tag for its domestic rights. Even if the film plays well to the Cannes crowd, it’s going to be a risk for whomever takes it on, and the lack of payoff may not be worth it. “It’s a very difficult movie from a marketing perspective,” another source who’s seen the film and liked it told Variety. Another attendee of the LA screening said the movie is “actively f*cking with a risk-averse industry. This is Coppola tearing down the modern temple of Hollywood.”
That sounds like a great movie, but a dangerous investment for a studio to take on. But is “Megalopolis” so risky that no studio will snatch it up by the time the Cannes Film Festival wraps? “In this case, my gut feeling is ‘no,'” another source told Variety. “I’m sure there was old-fashioned, out-of-step behavior [on the “Megalopolis” set], not to be condoned. However, in this context, the movie will stand — or fall — on its own merit.” And with “Megalopolis” screening on the Croisette now, it’s just a matter of time before movie fans find out if Coppola’s passion project is a triumph or a downfall. Watch a teaser for “Megalopolis” below.