The new trailer for a raw documentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed pᴀssion project, Megalopolis, reveals the epic production behind the 2024 flop. The five-time Oscar winner spent $120 million to fund the movie that took him over 40 years to make. With an idea first conceived in 1977, the Godfather filmmaker began writing the script in 1983, but it wasn’t until last year that the movie finally made it into the theaters.
Megalopolis‘ star-studded cast features Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, and many others. However, despite the star power and Coppola’s reputation, the movie faced a series of challenges in marketing and only grossed around $14 million against a mᴀssive budget.
Now, Utopia has released a new trailer for Mike Figgis’ documentary, тιтled MEGADOC, teasing a never-before-seen look at Coppola’s journey in shaping the world of Megalopolis. From unfiltered interviews to a close-up view of Coppola’s process, the documentary is billed as a “personal memoir unfolding in real time.”
In the trailer, the legendary filmmaker can be heard saying, “No one I’m working with realizes how weird a movie this really is.” Check out the trailer below:
What This Means For Megalopolis and Megadoc
Produced by Tara Li-An and James Mockoski, Megadoc features Coppola, Driver, Plaza, Emmanuel, Esposito, Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, Chloe Fineman, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Talia Shire, Robert De Niro, and many more. Figgis has directed 19 feature films and documentaries. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Director and Screenplay for Leaving Las Vegas.
Figgis had unrestricted access to the Megalopolis set throughout the entire shoot, including archival material of readings of different versions of the scripts. While different people might interpret what happened differently, Megadoc was filmed alongside the 2024 sci-fi drama, giving a rare insider’s look into the movie’s production.
The teaser trailer, which is less than 30 seconds long, already answers a big burning question fans have about Coppola, who sheds some light on the reason he invested his own money to make the film. The legendary filmmaker revealed that he didn’t make Magalopolis for fame, money, and Oscars, all of which he already has, admitting that he pursued the project to have “fun.”
Our Take On Megadoc
Megalopolis‘ release in 2024 was shrouded in controversy and drama that may have overshadowed the movie’s brilliance. Even though it’s been less than a year since it was released in theaters, much has changed. Recently, Coppola’s six-city tour to promote the movie has resulted in sold-out dates, which suggests that there’s a higher level of curiosity around the 2024 sci-fi flop.
Megadoc could further ignite an interest among audiences. With Coppola having a reputation for making timeless classics, the movie could experience a resurgence of interest long after its initial release. Despite having received some negative reviews, ScreenRant rated Megalopolis 8 out of 10 and highlighted how the movie captured the “complexity of humanity.“
Source: Utopia
