The Megalopolis Trailer Shows Off The Year’s Most Divisive Movie

Francis Ford Coppola may very well be our greatest living filmmaker, so the looming release of his first feature in 13 years would be a major cinematic event at any juncture in his career. That he is 85 years old and spent $120 million of his own money to finance it makes it a one-of-a-kind risk — one that, judging from the reviews out of last May’s Cannes Film Festival, might come up snake eyes at the box office.

I’d like to think that any new Coppola is a preordained success, that movie lovers of all stripes will flock to theaters this September to bear witness to the 41-years-in-the-making sci-fi epic that is “Megalopolis.” But at 138 minutes and freighted with some particularly nasty pans (The Hollywood Reporter called it “windy and overstuffed, frequently baffling and way too talky”), will rank-and-file moviegoers opt to wait for streaming?

A bit of canny salesmanship is clearly in order here, so perhaps this brand new theatrical trailer will drown out the negativity that’s dogged this movie for months (some of which has been brought on by reports of Coppola’s amorous mistreatment of extras on the film’s Atlanta set), and get audiences in the mood for a literal world-building saga that draws on go-for-broke efforts like Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” and Tinto Brass’ “Caligula.” Bolstered by a star-studded cast that includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Laurence Fishburne, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Dustin Hoffman, there’s certainly enough here to pique potential ticket-buyers’ interest. Does this new trailer close the deal? See for yourself by watching it above. 

Talk about “canny salesmanship.” The “Megalopolis” trailer comes directly for the throat of all the early naysayers, with Fishburne’s narration intoning, “True genius is often misunderstood.” It then proceeds to speed through a gamut of derogatory comments that legendary film critics like Andrew Sarris, Pauline Kael, Rex Reed, and Vincent Canby made in their original reviews of “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now,” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” decrying Coppola’s films as being things like “an epic piece of trash” and “a beautiful mess.” To be fair, depending on who you ask, certain folks still feel that way today about Coppola’s “Dracula” adaptation in particular (not us at /Film, though; we’re longstanding fans of the director’s gothic horror opera). 

But that just goes to prove the larger point being made here. It’s a savvy move, leaning into the divisive response to “Megalopolis” as a selling point. This isn’t another “Gotti” situation, either. Where the minds behind John Travolta’s infamous mobster biopic failed to spin its zero percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes into a badge of honor by claiming, “Audiences loved ‘Gotti’, [but] critics put out the hit,” somehow Morpheus from “The Matrix” declaring the new Coppola “an event nothing can prepare you for” actually carries the gravitas it’s going for. Will that be enough to get some actual butts in seats? We’ll find out when “Megalopolis” opens in theaters next month on September 27, 2024. The film’s synopsis reads:

MEGALOPOLIS is a Roman Epic set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.