The Godfather director's next film is said to be "batsh*t crazy" with a "baffling ending"

Apr. 2, 2024

First reactions to Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis are in

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The Godfatherdirector’s next filmMegalopolishas screened for a select group of people – and reactions to the movie are certainly very interesting.

According toPuck(viaScreen Rant), attendees of the screening were mostly confused by what they’d just seen. One viewer commented that the film is “unflinching in how batshit it is” and said it has “zero commercial prospects,” while the movie was also called a mix of “Ayn Rand, Metropolis, and Caligula.” Plus, the film’s ending is said to be “baffling,” and, at one point, an actor in the audience began interacting with star Adam Driver on screen.

Deadlinehas also seen the film, and its report reads: “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.”

Megalopolis sees a New York-style city destroyed by an accident, which leaves it open to competing ideas for its future. While architect Cesar (Driver) wants to rebuild as a utopia, Mayor Frank Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito) has a greedier, exploitative vision for rebuilding. Caught in the middle is Frank’s daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who is also Cesar’s lover.

The massive cast includes Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza, Grace VanderWaal, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzman, Dustin Hoffman, and many more.

The film currently has no distributor, and Coppola used his own money to fund the movie. Judging by the puzzled reactions, we’re in for something very different whenever the film does secure a release.

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I’m a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.

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