Megapolis has been making headlines for years, but the film has been in Francis Ford Coppola’s mind for decades.

The science fiction epic, which hits theaters September 27, stars Adam Driver as an idealistic architect who challenges the regressive status quo of the corrupt mayor of New Rome (Giancarlo Esposito). Coppola, who directed The godfather And Apocalypse now, first came up with the idea for the film in 1977. He sold part of his winery to inject $120 million of his own money into the production of Megapolis so he could make it outside the studio system.

Coppola told Yahoo Entertainment at the Toronto International Film Festival that he took time off from filmmaking after writing and directing the 1997 film. The Rainmaker to learn more about “what cinema was and what (its) kind of cinema was.”

“Megapolis is the result of what I have learned about myself, and a full expression of how I work when I am part theater director, part film director, part grandpa, part philosopher and not afraid of risks,” he said.

The ultimate ‘Megalopolis’ experience includes a live actor

Coppola’s experience in theater and fascination with technology made him want to try something new: giving an audience member at a film screening the opportunity to ask one of the on-screen characters a question, and having that character respond with a customized message. He compared it to Amazon’s Alexa technology, which he told the Telegraph he tried to use for the film, but the team working on the project was fired in 2022.

“Technology will eventually allow us to do (such) things in cinema. Cinema will not remain the same. (Studios) want it to stay the same because they want to sell it to you,” Coppola said. ‘They want to sell you something that you’re addicted to, like a certain type of potato chip that you can’t stop eating. That is their dream. That’s why they create franchises.”

The live actor element of Megapolis that made it to theaters is not exactly what Coppola had in mind, but it is still unique. In screenings billed as “The Ultimate Experience,” a person in the theater approaches the screen and asks Driver’s character a question during a “press conference.” After about two minutes, the live actor stops and the film continues normally.

Why Driver and Esposito joined the cast

Megapolis has had a long journey to theaters. Coppola began working on the script in the 1980s and eventually held the table reads in 2001, but the film’s plot, which involves a catastrophe that destroys the New Rome, was a little too similar to the 9/11 terrorist attacks to to continue comfortably.

He revived the project in 2019 and in 2022 it was finally in production after hundreds of script rewrites.

Driver told Yahoo Entertainment that people would expect Coppola to be “dictatorial” on set because he “had certain shots in his head for 20 years,” but that wasn’t the case. He praised the director for being “collaborative.”

“With all movies there’s pressure…if someone is spending a lot of money to be here, it’s all got to be great,” Driver said. “But it disappears quickly because of the environment the director creates.”

The actor initially declined the lead role Megapolis because he was “getting a little exhausted” from filming so many other projects. Then overnight, Coppola sent him a new copy of the script with a new version of a scene they had discussed.

“The way he did that — how articulate he was about it and how generous he was — I think, this is too great,” Driver said. “Then he made sure I could go home every weekend.”

Esposito, who plays Driver’s character’s rival, told Yahoo Entertainment he read the script Megapolis “many years ago.” He worked with Coppola on his 1984 film The Cotton Club and said the director is exactly the kind of person he enjoys working with.

“I want to work with people who are exploratory, who have great visionary ideas, who I would consider authors and who want to discover what cinema is through their interaction and relationship with the actors who faithfully portray their words,” he said.

“I love Franciscus. Me actually Love Francis, because he is so comfortable in his own skin and has so much knowledge and enthusiasm for the story he is trying to tell,” Esposito continued. “He tells you stories to grow your brain, and isn’t that inspiration?”

The Many Controversies About ‘Megalopolis’

Once the film was made, controversies arose Megapolis didn’t stop. The film received mixed reviews after its Cannes premiere and the trailer had to be removed in August because it contained fabricated quotes from critics. Crew members reportedly complained about the “old school” environment on set, and Coppola was accused of behaving inappropriately toward female extras. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing.

In August, Coppola told Rolling Stone he didn’t want that Megapolis “Some woke Hollywood production.” He said the cast includes people who have been “cancelled,” including Shia LaBeouf and Dustin Hoffman. They have both been charged with sexual assault.

“I always think it’s crazy what you can and can’t do,” Coppola told Yahoo Entertainment about filmmaking. “I think artists should be able to create whatever they want, and that’s what I’ve always tried to do.”

Coppola’s ultimate vision

Driver may be the star of the movie, but to him it’s Coppola’s movie.

After Megapolis debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, a clip showed Driver shifting the focus of a camera from him to Coppola. Driver told Yahoo Entertainment that he did it partly because it’s “fun, but a little awkward” to have a camera on you while people are clapping. (It also went viral during the 2021 premiere Annet for smoking a cigarette in the middle of the ovation.) The main reason, however, was that Coppola “was the one who made it.”

“He would say the opposite: that we all made it together,” Driver said. “Everyone in that room was influenced by the films he’s made, and here he’s been trying to make this thing for over 20 years… he’s quite a remarkable human being.”

Coppola said his favorite line that he wrote in the Megapolis The script is one that Driver’s character delivers at the end: “You can be anything, and you must.”

“We are all one family. You are my cousin. All these children are our children,” Coppola said. “I wanted a film that would express hope in the fact that we are a genius species, that there is nothing we can’t solve… if we understand that we can.”

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