Francis Ford Coppola's ‘Megalopolis’ Has Finished Filming

Remember in January when the trades claimed this film was in danger of not being completed? Well, it’s now been completed. The cinematic heavens are rejoicing today.

Francis Ford Coppola has wrapped production on all the main parts of “Megalopolis”. I assume a very lengthy post-production process will now commence, especially after Coppola confirmed that this would be a 2024 release — anywhere between 15 to 20 months.

Here’s a new synopsis of this mysterious film:

In New York, a woman is divided between loyalties to her father, who has a classical view of society, and her lover, who is more progressive and ready for the future.

“Megalopolis” stars Adam Driver, Forrest Whittaker, Jon Voight, Nathalie Emmanuel, Laurence Fishbourne, Shia LaBeouf, Aubrey Plaza, Talia Shire, and Dustin Hoffman.

Coppola started writing “Megalopolis” in the early ‘80s. The earliest anecdote has Coppola talking about the project during the 1982 shoot of “The Outsiders.” So, this project must have been ruminating in his head right after 1979’s “Apocalypse Now,” maybe even before.

In a May 2007 interview, Coppola even stated that he had to direct “Bram Stoker's Dracula”, “Jack,” and “The Rainmaker” to get out of debt and fund “Megalopolis”. That’s how important this film is to him.

There were table reads in 2001 with DiCaprio, De Niro, Crowe, Spacey and others only for the project to get completely scrapped in 2007. In 2021, Coppola finally sold a large share of his successful winery to back the $120 million project.

“Megalopolis” has turned into one of the great legends of cinema, up there with Kubrick’s “Napoleon.” The fact that the “what could have been?” has now turned into a completed production is damn-near miraculous.

Coppola directed four masterpieces in a row between '72 and '79. I sincerely hope he ends his career with another triumph.