Francis Ford Coppola was in Bogotá this week as the headline act at the World Business Forum, taking the stage on October 29 . Before his talk he sat down with outlet Semana's Arcadia.
One detail jumps out. Per Semana's account, Coppola said he's been taking care of his health, feels lighter, and hopes to shoot “one more film.” Hopes. Not "I'm cutting my new musical." Not "we wrapped in Basilicata last month." He hopes to make one more. If you've been following the never-ending delays of "Glimpses of the Moon" on this site, you already know what that means.
So where is "Glimpses of the Moon"? We've been tracking this one for two and a half years, so let's recap. In April 2024, before "Megalopolis" had even premiered, Coppola said his next film would adapt Edith Wharton's "The Glimpses of the Moon.” That September he told The Telegraph it would have strong dance and musical elements and would be paid with national subsidies, "because I'm all borrowed out."
Then the start dates began piling up:
Early 2025, London. Coppola called it a "strange 30s-style musical" and said he'd shoot it early in the year.
March 2025. On Rick Rubin's podcast, he said he was settled in the UK and in pre-production, had briefly shot a few scenes, and that the budget had shrunk to cheap.
July 2025. He told Deadline the script was ready to go immediately, but he couldn't pay for it himself after sinking his last $100 million into "Megalopolis."
November 2025, Calabria. A casting call circulated for a 30-day shoot, and a Production Weekly grid even listed Vittorio Storaro as cinematographer. The shoot never happened.
June 2026. Coppola was still looking for money to finance the film, and went as far as to sell his $1.8M private island lease and auctioning off a $1M gold watch he had owned for decades.
Late August 2026. Italian reports said production would (apparently) start that month.
Since then? Nothing. No set photos, no cast announcement, no local reports of Coppola on location. Instead, October was spent putting "Megalopolis" back in theaters, executive producing Ari Gold's one-shot musical "Brother Verses Brother,” and flying to Bogotá to talk about hoping to shoot one more film. Put it together and it's pretty clear cameras never rolled on 'Glimpses.'
Coppola lost more than $100M on "Megalopolis," got hammered for it, and he knows the clock is running out of time for one more film. If "Glimpses of the Moon" is that film, someone needs to write the check soon.
By the way, in that same interview, Coppola took a swing at the studios. His complaint is that the moment a young director shows real talent, a company shows up and hands them "Dune" or James Bond. "What does James Bond have to do with people's lives?" he asked. In his view, big money is a “drug” that turns young filmmakers into “slaves” of the system, and they should say no.
When asked which filmmakers excite him most right now, Coppola didn't hesitate: Denis Villeneuve, whose last three films have been Dune.
Coppola lost more than $100M on "Megalopolis," got hammered for it, and he knows the clock is running out for one more film. If "Glimpses of the Moon" is that film, someone needs to write the check soon.