“When we leap into the unknown, we prove that we are free.” This also applies to the dialogue in Francis Ford Coppola’s new film ‘Megalopolis’, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month. After the tumultuous debut, Coppola told the press that it is a sentence that speaks to him personally: “That is me making this film,” explained the filmmaker, who financed the film himself. “I’ve proven to all the big players in the studio that I’m free, and they’re not. Because they don’t dare jump into the unknown. And so am I. That’s the only way to prove that you’re free .”
It’s a glorious proclamation, a mic drop, for an industry he helped build and then let him down. However, he capped his victory lap with a caveat: “I don’t recommend it.” But as Hollywood becomes more risk-averse and abandons creativity in hopes of scoring what it thinks will be guaranteed hits, perhaps more filmmakers should.
Megalopolis has been a passion project for decades for Coppola, who first conceived the film in the 1980s. It’s a daring mix of science fiction fantasy and Roman Empire-inspired speculative fiction, combining wide-eyed optimism and unapologetic sexual hedonism. He has been trying to raise money and set up production since 1997. Ultimately, he had to forego the common luxury of financing from a major studio or even outside investors, spending $120 million of his own money (a war chest largely fueled by his wildly successful winery).
