The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loy... Read allThe city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.The city of New Rome faces the duel between Cesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
- Huey Wilkes
- (as Bailey Ives)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFrancis Ford Coppola wrote the script in the early 1980s, but the film was kept on the back-burner partially due to his financial debts. Pre-production finally began in 2001 after filming 30 hours of second unit footage and holding table read with Paul Newman, Uma Thurman, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Edie Falco, and Kevin Spacey, but the project was scrapped after the September 11 attacks, because a scene from the script (page 166) "predicted" the attacks. Coppola fully abandoned the project in 2007, and didn't begin developing it again until 2019.
- GoofsAt 40:12, the tool in Catilina's hand changes color without him moving.
- Quotes
Cesar Catilina: *You* wanna help me?
Julia Cicero: Yeah. And, well, I... well, I want to learn.
Cesar Catilina: And you think one year of... medical school entitles you to plow through the riches of my Emersonian mind?
Julia Cicero: Entitles me?
Cesar Catilina: Yes.
Julia Cicero: [scoffs] Entitles me?
Cesar Catilina: Yeees!
Julia Cicero: Entitles me?
Cesar Catilina: YEEEEEES!
Julia Cicero: You have no idea about me! You think I am nothing, just a socialite?
Cesar Catilina: No, not nothing, but I reserve my time for people who can think. About science. And literature, and... architecture and art. You find me cruel, selfish and unfeeling? I am. I work without caring what happens to either of us. So go back to the cluuuub, bare it all, and stalk the kind of people that you enjoy.
Julia Cicero: Fine! I will.
Cesar Catilina: Come back when you have more time!
- Alternate versionsThe "Ultimate IMAX Experience" version of the film features a live actor asking questions during the filmed press conference.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Amanda the Jedi Show: MEGALOPOLIS is my Nightmare | Explained (2024)
- SoundtracksMy Pledge
Written by Grace VanderWaal
Performed by Grace VanderWaal
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By arrangement with Sony Music Entertainment
Produced and Orchestrated by Kris Kukul
The plot follows the genius scientist Cesar, inventor of the revolutionary material "Megalon," with which he plans to build a utopian city of the future-"Megalopolis." This is one of the film's central themes-obsession with perfection in a world and society far from it. Envy, jealousy, greed, and the lust for power are other themes that shape the essence of this work. Coppola doesn't shy away from weaving in political commentary as well as reflections on human existence.
When I reflect on the film's themes, one might think this is a good film. On the contrary, all of these themes are destroyed by narrative chaos, which in my opinion stems from the director's pretentious ambition to present an unprecedented 'megalomaniac' work of art. The editing and narrative are disjointed-the film jumps from scene to scene with no coherence, which became tiresome after just fifteen minutes. By the midpoint, I had completely lost interest in the story and was simply waiting for it to end.
Even though most of the cast is well-known, it's difficult to connect with any of the characters-most are shallow, and some are entirely unnecessary. The only character I connected with was Cesar, thanks to Adam Driver's brilliant performance. His ability to convey Cesar's mania, dialogue, and emotions is likely the reason I stayed engaged at all, rather than the depth of the character itself. The dialogue is mixed-sometimes brilliant, sometimes dull-which made the experience quite uneven.
The cinematography is excellent, and had Coppola focused primarily on this element, this could have been an extraordinary film.
In conclusion, I can say that due to its impressive cinematography, I can't consider "Megalopolis" a bad film, but because of its awful narrative structure, I also can't recommend it to anyone. It's disjointed, unsure of which themes to focus on, and unclear about what it truly wants to convey. Uncertain in its very purpose.
- Ernad_Fakic
- Sep 25, 2024
- Permalink
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $120,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,629,085
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,007,797
- Sep 29, 2024
- Gross worldwide
- $13,780,930
- Runtime2 hours 18 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.00 : 1