An earthquake has just shaken the film community, and I say that in the best way possible. While so much of the news in the world of film has surrounded Barbie and Oppenheimer, we just got an update on Megalopolis. Francis Ford Coppola’s long awaited project, Megalopolis, is close to being finished. In a recent article from World of Reel, filmmaker Mike Figgis (who is filming a documentary about the production of Megalopalis) stated that “Megalopolis should be ready for Cannes 2024.”

Figgis has been privy to a lot of intense, behind the scenes aspects of Megalopolis which includes the addition of actors to the cast, the production designer and supervising art director being fired over “creative differences”, and just seeing the genius Francis Ford Coppola work.

Here’s what we know, so far, about Coppola’s potential masterpiece Megalopolis.

A Massive Cast Will Help At The Box Office

Over his illustrious career, Francis Ford Coppola has worked with great casts. His 1979 war epic, Apocalypse Now, starred Martin Sheen, Harrison Ford, Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Laurence Fishburne, Robert Duvall, and Frederic Forrest. Coppolas 1983 crime drama, The Outsiders, starred C. Thomas Howell, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Ralph Macchio, Rob Lowe, Patrick Swayze, and Emilio Estevez. You get the point. Coppola only works with the best and he packs them all onto the big screen.

For the upcoming Megalopolis, Coppola didn’t shortchange us with the cast. As of right now, nineteen members of the cast have been announced. This includes Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire, D. B. Sweeney, Dustin Hoffman, and Giancarlo Esposito.

Megalopolis is actually a bit of a family reunion for Coppola. Talia Shire is Coppola’s sister and Shire’s son is Jason Schwartzman. Nicholas Cage is Coppola’s nephew and Coppola’s son, Roman, has been brought on for additional directing. Even though Coppola has worked with his family on individual films in the past, this is the first time Shire, Schwartzman, Cage, and Roman Coppola will all work together with Francis.

I do think that the allure of Coppola directing will draw people in, but the cast definitely helps. A lot of film fans love Jason Schwartzman from the Wes Anderson films, including myself. Nicholas Cage has made a comeback with people my age and has become a large figure again. Adam Driver is an already established, great actor along with Esposito. Then, actors like Dustin Hoffman, Forest Whitaker, and Jon Voight will bring in an older demographic. This cast is packed and I’m all in for it.

Past Attempts To Make Megalopolis Never Panned Out

While it appears that Megalopolis is actually happening, there were many past attempts made by Coppola to make the film. His attempts span back to the 1980’s. He began writing the project in the 1980’s, and Rob Lowe even claims that Coppola talked about it on the set of The Outsiders in 1982. As he continued to work on the project, Coppola agreed to direct Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), Jack (1996), and The Rainmaker (1997). This was in order to get out of debt and fund the production of his magnum opus Megalopolis.

By 2001, Coppola had begun doing table readings with a massive cast of stars. This included Russell Crowe, Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprion, Eddie Falco, Uma Thurman, Paul Newman, Kevin Spacey, James Gandolfini, and Nicholas Cage. While we are getting a great cast for Megalopolis, you can’t deny that all of those actors working together wouldn’t have been great. In addition, he recorded near 30 hours of footage of New York with Ron Fickle. It was unfortunately scrapped though due to the 9/11 attacks. Even though Coppola had worked so hard on it, he claimed to have abandoned it in 2007.

Twelve years later in 2019, Coppola was back on Megalopolis.

Coppola coming back to Megalopolis years later meant he needed a new batch of stars. In this process, Cate Blanchett, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, Jude Law, and Michelle Pfeiffer were in talks to star. As production rolled on, scheduling conflicts arose and those actors dropped out. Now, Coppola has his cast set and is preparing for a release at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024.

What Can We Expect?

While Coppola started his career very hot directing both Godfather films, Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The Outsiders, and Rumble Fist, he went on a streak where he didn’t make films with a lot substance. Yes, there were some gems like Bram Stoker’s Dracula or Tetro, but there’s films like Jack, Youth Without Youth, and Tucker: The Man and His Dream. Not great. At 84 years old, Megalopolis could be Coppola’s great sendoff.

In that same article I referenced prior from World of Reel, Mike Figgis called Megalopolis “Julius Caesar meets Blade Runner“. Traditionally, I like to think that I’m aware of what comparisons like this mean, but I don’t. I know the story of Julius Caesar rising to political power and being assassinated. I’ve seen the immaculate, 1982 science fiction drama Blade Runner. I’m not sure how those two things will crossover to make a movie, but I’m excited. While the plot is still uncertain and we’ve only received that tidbit of the style, I’m confident that Coppola will make an outstanding film.