Francis Ford Coppola‘s passion project “Megalopolis” will officially premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, according to an individual familiar with the project. The film will debut in a gala slot on May 17.
“Megalopolis” boasts anall-star cast,includingShia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Coppola’s sister Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman (Shire’s son), Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter and James Remar.
Coppola wrote the screenplay in the 1980s and has finally brought the film to fruition, investing over$100 million of his own moneyinto the project.
Last week, Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Fremaux told PvNew that he’d been courting Coppola to bring his latest film to the Croisette after the famed director presented “Apocalypse Now Redux” during Fremaux’s first year at the festival in 1995.
“‘Megalopolis’ is a project that he wanted to achieve for so long and he did it independently, in his own way, as an artist,” Fremaux said. “He built the legend of the Cannes Film Festival and it would be an honor to welcome him back, as a filmmaker who comes to present his new film.”
“Megalopolis” wrapped production last year and, on March 28, screened for the first time before a star-studded guest list of studio heads, distributors and buyers at the Universal CityWalk IMAX Theater in L.A.
While plot details for the film remain vague, with Coppola often calling it an indescribable enigma, the official logline reads: “The fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius and conflicted love.” The story is reportedly set in an alternate reality version of New York City dubbed “New Rome.”
In September, Coppola elaborated on how Rome inspired “Megalopolis,” writing on Instagram, “How often do I think of Ancient Rome? Quite a lot, as the Roman Republic served as the example for my country America and its institutions, and was the inspiration for my upcoming film ‘Megalopolis.'”
Coppola continued, “My fascination with the Roman Republic is based on thestruggle between the political parties during which the interest of the Republic yielded to the ambitions of a few powerful men who espoused the aims of political parties to establish their own fortunes and authority by relying upon armed forces to achieve those ends, dealing the final blow to a constitution already tottering to its fall.”
The full Cannes selection is set to be revealed on Thursday. Major titles debuting out of competition include George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” Kevin Costner’s Western epic “Horizon: An American Saga” and opener “The Second Act,” directed by Quentin Dupieux and starring Léa Seydoux and Vincent Lindon.
Deadline was first to report the news.
