Despite speculation that Francis Ford Coppola's self-funded passion project, Megalopolis, might struggle to find a distributor (there was already some concern before the recent controversies), it's just been announced that the sci-fi epic has been given a global IMAX release.
“The film is going to get an IMAX release,” IMAX CEO Richard Gelfond told the press during a Cannes event earlier today. “One of the things that we pride ourselves on is being filmmaker-friendly. So we’ve committed to Francis to do a global Imax release.”
Gelford added that he'd met with Coppola in Cannes, and that they would most likely wait to see who will distribute the film in the U.S. and when before deciding on a theatrical release date. The film has already sold to multiple international territories.
This week, The Guardian published a report outlining some of the behind-the-scenes antics of Coppola during the shoot, which allegedly included sitting in his trailer smoking weed for hours on end while the cast and crew were waiting to film, and pulling scantily clad or naked female extras onto his lap and attempting to kiss them to "get them in the mood."
Clearly, this report didn't have the negative impact many felt it might.
Though the movie has not been screened for critics, the reactions from an early insider screening were divisive. One viewer described the film as "unflinching in how batshit it is," noting that it has "zero commercial prospects," while another called it a mix of "Ayn Rand, Metropolis, and Caligula."
However, a more positive verdict stated: "Coppola's new film is crackling with ideas that fuse the past with the future, with an epic and highly visual fable that plays perfectly on an IMAX screen. He covers complex themes in a remarkably brief two hours and 13 minutes, not including credits."
We're sure to hear a lot more about Megalopolis when it premieres at Cannes later tonight.
"An accident destroys a New York City-like metropolis already in decay. Caesar, an idealist, aims to rebuild the city as a sustainable utopia, while the venal mayor, Frank Cicero, has other plans. Coming between the opposing men and their visions is Frank’s socialite daughter, Julia. Tired of the attention and power she was born with, Julia searches for her life’s meaning."
Megalopolis stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, Talia Shire, Dustin Hoffman, and D.B. Sweeney.