Megalopolis has dropped its first clip for the long-awaited film by Francis Ford Coppola. And if anything, we can’t stop thinking about Adam Driver‘s bad hair and that controlling time is integral to the story. Driver plays Caesar, a man who wants to “save” his city and is willing to do what must be done because he’s a “visionary.” Of course, his plans fly in the face of what Giancarlo Esposito’s Frank Cicero aka the mayor wants to do. And then there’s the added complexity that Caesar’s love interest is Frank’s daughter Julia, played by Nathalie Emmanuel. So basically, Caesar has a lot on his plate and he’s going to have to mix things up if he wants things to go his way and “usher in a new dawn.”
In the first clip, we see Caesar step out onto the ledge of a dangerously tall building. Initially, you think it’s because he himself is on the edge. And that feels more real and apparently when he steps off the ledge. Things don’t go as expected as he throws his hands up and yells “time stop.” It does. In a surprising turn of events, everything is a stand still and he is pulled back to the ledge. When Caesar looks down traffic has stopped, the world under his command until he snaps his finger and the world continues moving, unaware of what just happened. But we’re aware of him starting down a dangerous path with unchecked amounts of power.
Besides the bad Adam Driver hair, Megalopolis really has the same vibe as JLo’s This is Me…Now. That movie was a self-indulgent, self-produced, and self-funded ride through JLo’s mind that many brushed aside as having delusions of grandeur. Megalopolis gives the same vibes except it’s “ok” because it’s a man talking about how the Roman Empire inspired him to a “movie – no, the experience” that is this movie. Coppola financed the $120 million budget himself, sold part of his vineyard, and has been working on this for years. That’s giving delusions of grandeur and this is coming from someone who isn’t a JLo stan but an equal opportunity hater. Megalopolis is also giving self-insert fanfic. And I’m a definite hater of that always.
Watch the first clip below:
Megalopolis is expected to have a September 2024 release.