“Don’t let the now destroy the forever,” Adam Driver says in the new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious, epic dystopian sci-fi drama “Megalopolis.” And he might as well be talking about all the drama surrounding Coppola’s film. The movie released by Lionsgate was recently slammed and at the center of controversy when it used fake quotes about Coppola’s previous films like “Apocalypse Now.” All of the filmmaker’s ‘70s works are heralded as stone-cold classics, and the trailer’s quote was meant to demonstrate how all the critics were dead wrong about them at the time—an allusion to the mixed reviews of “Megalopolis.” One small problem: all those quotes were fabricated, and some eagle-eyed critics and reviewers quickly called them out, and Lionsgate had to take the trailer down.
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This drama, on top of previous ones, the bad reviews at Cannes, and allegations that Coppola kissed actresses on set and behaved inappropriately during the production have really marred the movie’s release. But undeterred, Lionsgate is releasing a new trailer, hoping to get past all the hullabaloo.
The cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman.
“Megalopolis” follows an architect, Cesar Catilina (Driver), who wants to rebuild a city called New Rome as a utopia after a devastating disaster. In his way is a corrupt mayor named Franklyn Cicero (Esposito) who wants to keep things status quo. Between them is Cicero’s daughter Julia (Emmanuel), who loves Cesar.
Here’s the synopsis:
Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
Lionsgate Films will release “Megalopolis” in theaters on September 27. You can watch the trailer below: