Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola's Ambitious Roman Epic Premieres at Cannes

United States of America
Coppola faced numerous challenges bringing Megalopolis to life but remained committed to his vision.
Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024.
Megalopolis is a Roman epic fable set in modern America with Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina and Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero.
Megalopolis was shot using Imax technology for a visually stunning experience.
The film explores themes of power, ambition, and the future of humanity. Giancarlo Esposito plays Mayor Franklyn Cicero.
Megalopolis: Francis Ford Coppola's Ambitious Roman Epic Premieres at Cannes

Francis Ford Coppola's long-awaited film, Megalopolis, had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 2024. The movie received a warm reception from the audience and critics alike, with many praising Coppola's vision and ambitious scope. According to multiple sources, Megalopolis is a Roman epic fable set in an imagined modern America. The story follows Cesar Catilina, played by Adam Driver, who is a genius artist seeking to leap into a utopian future. However, his plans face opposition from various quarters, including his lover Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is torn between her love for Cesar and her loyalty to her father. The film also features Giancarlo Esposito as Mayor Franklyn Cicero and explores themes of power, ambition, and the future of humanity.

The production of Megalopolis has been a long and arduous journey for Coppola. He first conceived the idea over 40 years ago but faced numerous challenges in bringing it to life. Despite these obstacles, he remained committed to his vision and eventually secured financing for the project. The film was shot using Imax technology, which allowed Coppola to create a visually stunning and immersive experience for audiences.

The critical reception for Megalopolis has been largely positive, with many praising its ambition and scope. However, some critics have noted that the film is a bit disjointed and uneven in places. Despite these minor quibbles, most agree that Megalopolis is a significant achievement from a master filmmaker.

The future of Megalopolis in the box office remains to be seen. Imax has announced plans for a global theatrical release, but no specific dates have been given yet. In the meantime, audiences can look forward to this ambitious and thought-provoking work of art.


Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image
Article Image

Confidence

91%

Doubts
  • It's unclear when Megalopolis will be released in theaters.
  • Some critics have noted that the film is disjointed and uneven in places.

Sources

97%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Cannes: Francis Ford Coppola’s Much-Discussed ‘Megalopolis’ Receives 10-Minute Standing Ovation

The Hollywood Reporter Scott Feinberg Thursday, 16 May 2024 19:37
  • Unique Points
    • Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi epic Megalopolis had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and received a 10-minute standing ovation.
    • Coppola dedicated the movie to hope and the children.
    • Imax will give Megalopolis a global theatrical release, timing yet to be determined.
    • Frank Sinatra’s ‘My Way’ played as Coppola approached the Palais on his way to the premiere.
  • Accuracy
    • The film arrives at Cannes trailing clouds of speculation, skepticism, and controversy.
    • Coppola spends more time among the elites than Lang
    • The film has been described as a 'mad modern masterwork' and the 'craziest movie ever seen'
    • Coppola believes in America but his faith is eroding.
    • The city's most famous resident is Cesar Catilina, played by Adam Driver.
    • Cesar Catilina has invented a new building material called Megalon, which gives him secret powers to control time and space.
    • City mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) demands real answers to humanity’s actual needs, not this pie-in-the-sky megalo nonsense.
    • The film sometimes feels like a blend of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, and the New Deal era.
  • Deception (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Fallacies (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Bias (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication
  • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
    None Found At Time Of Publication

70%

The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
(Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

Review: Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Is Totally Nuts

Vulture Magazine Bilge Ebiri Thursday, 16 May 2024 19:30
  • Unique Points
    • Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is a film filled with absolute madness and nothing in it feels like something out of a normal movie.
    • Coppola spends more time among the elites than Lang
    • Wow Platinum is a beautiful financial journalist intent on accruing wealth and power for herself.
    • Clodio schemes to inherit all the family money for himself.
  • Accuracy
    • ]The film arrives at Cannes trailing clouds of speculation, skepticism, and controversy.[
    • Coppola last had a film in competition at Cannes 45 years ago - Apocalypse Now.
    • Much is riding on Megalopolis’ reception at Cannes, especially after a private screening in L.A. left potential buyers skeptical about its commercial prospects.
  • Deception (30%)
    The article contains several examples of deception through emotional manipulation and sensationalism. The author uses phrases like 'absolute madness', 'fevered thoughts of a precocious child', and 'cinematic ode to those who dream of the future' to elicit an emotional response from the reader. He also makes grandiose statements about the film, such as it being 'the craziest thing I’ve ever seen' and that he 'enjoyed every single batshit second of it', which are intended to create hype and excitement. Additionally, there are instances of selective reporting where the author focuses on certain aspects of the film while ignoring others, such as the sparse crowd scenes and underdeveloped characters.
    • At their best, these scenes have an otherworldly inventiveness that gets at their intoxicating, anything-goes appeal. At their worst, they come across as choppy shots of awkward extras gyrating listlessly.
    • The moment when an actual live human walked out in front of the movie screen to pose Adam Driver’s Cesar Catilina a question (which Cesar, in the film, proceeded to answer) might, in retrospect, be one of the less bizarre moments in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.
    • The director’s supreme dream project, which he’s been trying to get off the ground for four decades...
    • It basically is: Coppola is more interested in the debate over the future than he is in presenting any answers.
  • Fallacies (80%)
    The article contains several instances of informal fallacies and appeals to authority. The author makes subjective statements about the movie being 'totally nuts' and 'a work of absolute madness', which is an opinion that does not provide any logical reasoning or evidence. The author also uses the phrase 'nothing in Megalopolis feels like something out of a normal movie', which is a vague statement that does not provide any specific examples or evidence to support the claim. Additionally, the author makes several references to other works, such as Shakespeare's Hamlet and Fritz Lang's Metropolis, implying that Megalopolis is similar or influenced by these works. However, this is an appeal to authority as it does not provide any logical reasoning or evidence for why Megalopolis is like these works.
    • ]The moment when an actual live human walked out in front of the movie screen to pose Adam Driver’s Cesar Catilina a question (which Cesar, in the film, proceeded to answer) might, in retrospect, be one of the less bizarre moments in Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis.[
    • The director[’]s supreme dream project... arrives at Cannes trailing clouds of speculation, skepticism, and controversy. It bears the marks of all the years Coppola has spent trying to get it off the ground, with elements that feel like they’ve been patched in from different periods in his filmography: a bit of The Godfather here, a bit of Tucker: The Man and His Dream there.
    • Coppola spends more time among the elites than Lang, who sent his protagonist into the caves beneath Metropolis to witness the physical and spiritual toll of the industrial utopia above. Of course, extended visions of squalor and despair would have worked against this cinematic ode to those who dream of the future.
    • At their best, these scenes have an otherworldly inventiveness that gets at their intoxicating, anything-goes appeal. At their worst, they come across as choppy shots of awkward extras gyrating listlessly.
  • Bias (75%)
    The author expresses a clear preference for the dreamer and visionary character Cesar over the pragmatic Mayor Cicero, indicating ideological bias towards artistic and imaginative pursuits. The author also uses language that depicts Mayor Cicero as anxious and plagued by scandal, while describing Cesar as haughty and absorbed in his own brilliance.
    • At their best, these scenes have an otherworldly inventiveness that gets at their intoxicating, anything-goes appeal. At their worst, they come across as choppy shots of awkward extras gyrating listlessly.
      • Megalopolis might be the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy every single batshit second of it.
        • The director of The Godfather films is drawn to the court intrigues of the wealthy.
          • The occasional dissolves that made the fever dreams of Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker’s Dracula so gorgeously disorienting here take over entire sequences. In those pictures, these were stylistic flourishes. Here, it’s all flourish, all the time.
          • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication

          86%

          The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
          (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

          A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

          ‘Megalopolis’: What The Critics Are Saying

          Deadline Hollywood Andreas Wiseman Thursday, 16 May 2024 20:30
          • Unique Points
            • Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America.
            • Cesar Catilina, played by Adam Driver, is a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian future.
            • Socialite Julia Cicero, played by Nathalie Emmanuel, is torn between her love for Cesar and her loyalties to her father.
          • Accuracy
            • 138 minutes long
            • 7-minute standing ovation at Cannes Film Festival
            • Megalopolis has been described as a 'mad modern masterwork'' and the 'craziest movie ever seen''
            • Coppola last had a film in competition at Cannes 45 years ago - Apocalypse Now
          • Deception (50%)
            The article contains multiple instances of editorializing and pontification by the author. The author expresses their personal opinions about the film, praising it as a 'mad modern masterwork' and a 'pretty stunning achievement.' They also use emotive language to describe the film as something that is not normal, crazy, and epic. The article also contains selective reporting by only mentioning positive reviews and ignoring negative ones.
            • It is a true modern masterwork of the kind that outrages with its sheer audacity.
            • There is nothing in Megalopolis that feels like something out of a 'normal' movie.
            • The silliness is a feature, not a bug!
            • The early word? Predominantly positive, with some very high highs and inevitably a few low lows.
            • So long as there are people who love movies that are actually about things, and think about the past 6,000 years of human civilization, there is an audience for this.
          • Fallacies (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Bias (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication

          98%

          The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
          (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

          A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

          Megalopolis Review: Coppola Inspires New Hope for the Future of Movies

          IndieWire David Ehrlich Thursday, 16 May 2024 19:30
          • Unique Points
            • Francis Ford Coppola is bringing his movie ‘Megalopolis’ to screens.
            • The movie ‘Megalopolis’ is about an ingenious eccentric with a more optimistic vision for the future.
            • Coppola believes in America but his faith is eroding.
          • Accuracy
            No Contradictions at Time Of Publication
          • Deception (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Fallacies (95%)
            The author uses an appeal to history and a metaphorical comparison of the current state of affairs to Ancient Rome, which is an example of a hasty generalization. He makes assumptions about the present situation based on historical events without providing sufficient evidence or context.
            • After more than 40 years of idly fantasizing about the project (and more than 20 years of actively trying to finance it), Coppola is bringing Megalopolis to screens at a moment when his chosen medium is struggling to find a way forward, and the world around it seems teetering on the brink of collapse.
            • Even with the past as our guide, we are at imminent risk of allowing the now to destroy the forever.
          • Bias (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Site Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication
          • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
            None Found At Time Of Publication

          58%

          The overall score is a weighted number that takes into account conflict of interest, bias, deception and other practices that undermine the credibility of the source. It is calculated as:
          (Site Conflicts Of Interest + Author Conflicts Of Interest) / 2.0 * 0.2 + ArticleBiasScore * 0.20 + UniquePointsScore * 0.05 + DeceptionScore * 0.20 + ReadabilityScore * 0.05 + FallacyScore * 0.20

          A score that takes into consideration the content for flow, interruptions with ads, and overt search engine optimization techniques that makes the content hard to understand

          Megalopolis review – Coppola’s passion project is megabloated and megaboring

          theguardian.com Article URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/13/ pakistan-·coalition-·agrees-to-form-government Peter Bradshaw Thursday, 16 May 2024 19:30
          • Unique Points
            • Cesar Catilina has invented a new building material called Megalon, which gives him secret powers to control time and space.
            • The federal government allows Cesar Catilina to demolish whole swathes of the city for his utopian building project: Megalopolis.
            • City mayor Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) demands real answers to humanity’s actual needs, not this pie-in-the-sky megalo nonsense.
            • Cesar Catilina's daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel) falls in love with Catilina, creating a conflict between old and new visions of humankind’s future.
            • Hamilton Crassus III (Voight) conducts an affair with Wow Platinum (Aubrey Plaza), while his grandson Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBeouf) has corrupt ambitions of his own.
          • Accuracy
            • Francis Ford Coppola is the director of the film.
            • The film asks the question of whether the US empire’s decline-and-fall moment has arrived.
          • Deception (30%)
            The article contains editorializing and pontification by the author. The author expresses their opinion that the film is 'bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow' and that it lacks passion despite being a passion project. They also make comparisons to other films and directors, implying their superiority. The author also engages in emotional manipulation by praising Coppola's past achievements while criticizing his current work.
            • Everyone who loves cinema owes Francis Ford Coppola a very great deal ... including honesty.
            • But for me this is a passion project without passion: a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future.
            • I found myself thinking of Chaplin’s final speech in The Great Dictator. But the disco-dancing last days of decadent Rome simply feel dated.
          • Fallacies (75%)
            The author makes an appeal to authority by mentioning Francis Ford Coppola's past achievements and implying that they give him the right to disregard criticism. This is a fallacy as it does not justify the quality of his current work.
            • But for me this is a passion project without passion: a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film, full of high-school-valedictorian verities about humanity’s future. Yet this sci-fi conspiracy drama-thriller, avowedly inspired by the Catiline plotters of ancient Rome, does ask a valid question. The US empire, like the Roman empire, like any empire, can’t last for ever. Has America’s decline-and-fall moment arrived?
            • But perhaps it is this remarkable body of achievement which gives him the right to disregard criticism now.
          • Bias (50%)
            The author expresses a clear disdain for the film 'Megalopolis' by Francis Ford Coppola, using derogatory language such as 'bloated', 'boring', and 'bafflingly shallow'. He also makes assumptions about the film's quality based on his own subjective experiences and previous works of Coppola. These statements demonstrate a bias against the film.
            • Everyone who loves cinema owes Francis Ford Coppola a very great deal ... including honesty. His ambitious and earnestly intended new film, resoundingly dedicated to his late wife Eleanor, has some flashes of humour and verve. But for me this is a passion project without passion: a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film
              • Yet this sci-fi conspiracy drama-thriller, avowedly inspired by the Catiline plotters of ancient Rome, does ask a valid question. The US empire, like the Roman empire, like any empire, can’t last for ever. Has America’s decline-and-fall moment arrived? But for me this is a passion project without passion: a bloated, boring and bafflingly shallow film
              • Site Conflicts Of Interest (0%)
                None Found At Time Of Publication
              • Author Conflicts Of Interest (100%)
                None Found At Time Of Publication