Coppola fully abandoned the project in 2007, and didn't begin developing it again until 2019
Narrative
The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script in the early 1980s, but the film was kept on the back-burner partially due to his financial debts. Pre-production finally began in 2001 after filming 30 hours of second unit footage and holding table read with Paul Newman, Uma Thurman, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Edie Falco, and Kevin Spacey, but the project was scrapped after the September 11 attacks, because a scene from the script (page 166) "predicted" the attacks.
Hamilton Crassus III: What do you think about this boner I’ve got?
Throughout the movie there are many moments where the hand movements jump between cuts.. The "Ultimate IMAX Experience" version of the film features a live actor asking questions during the filmed press conference.. Referenced in The John Campea Show: Adam Driver To Lead Francis Ford Coppola's New Film Megalopolis (2022). My PledgeWritten by Grace VanderWaalPerformed by Grace VanderWaalCourtesy of Columbia RecordsBy arrangement with Sony Music EntertainmentProduced and Orchestrated by Kris Kukul.
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel had zero chemistry
This movie reminded me of The Room, and Adam Driver's performance was more akin to Tommy Wiseau. Cringe dialogue and bad writing that he could not fake it through. Since this was filmed around pandemic times, I'm wondering if they even met before being cast or were just cast off of zoom. I will bet you now that Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Aubrey Plaza will all get Razzie Award nominations and may even win.
This was pretentious, shallow, and a waste of money
I've never seen such a "talented" pool of actors lacking such self-awareness as to embarrass themselves and make us question whether they are truly talented. I walked out before the ending because I could not take the bad dialogue, it was like the actors were talking to a wall and had just learned their lines 5 minutes before. That opening Hamlet speech was one of the worst I've ever seen. The cinematography looked like a 2003 made for TV movie edited on Windows 95.
It's not even so bad it's good because I couldn't follow the plot because it was all over the place
Check out our list of exciting new movies from this year's film festivals, including Venice, TIFF, the New York Film Festival, and more.