There have been many developments about “Megalopolis” over the past few days ahead of its much-anticipated Cannes premiere. One of the most fascinating revolves around its distribution, specifically, the fact that many fans will be able to witness Francis Ford Coppola’s newest vision on the biggest screens available—IMAX!
The film is forty years in the making, and it is rumored that late September will be when Coppola’s thirteen-year absence from filmmaking will finally end. Whilst it doesn’t have official distribution as of yet, Francis Ford Coppola has expressed interest in giving the film to an awards-savvy company, with A24 a likely candidate, in order to potentially be up for major awards next season. This means that no official release date has been provided, although it has become clear that it will have a limited run in IMAX cinemas across 20 US cities before a subsequent wide release.
Costing $120 million to produce (the majority of which was self-funded), Coppola has stated that his vision was always for the film to be shown in this format to match the epic scale of his dystopian vision, and it seems like IMAX is very interested, so long as he can secure US distribution which he has so far failed to do. However, where better to secure this distribution than the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, where all of the eyes of both the media and industry will be watching? This only increases the pressure already put on the film’s premiere on May 16th.
A teaser trailer was released this week, showcasing the stunning visuals and impeccable production design of the film. The 2-hour, 18-minute epic will revolve around Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), who seeks to propel the imagined city of New Rome into a utopian future, having to deal with a variety of powers who seek to stop his vision coming to light. All of which perhaps serve as an apt metaphor for Coppola’s complex journey.
Coppola has been able to secure some international distribution rights. Constantin Film will release it in all German-speaking countries. Entertainment Film Distributors have picked it up for UK release, Eagle Pictures for Italy, Tripictures for Spain, and Le Pact for France. Fortunately, this means we can be confident in an American distributor picking it up, but the question remains: Who will it be?
All we can do now is wait for the reactions to start rolling in.
