“Megalopolis,” the latest film from master Francis Ford Coppola and starring Adam Driver, has at last found a home and will be distributed by Lionsgate Studios in the U.S. and Canada following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month, IndieWire can reveal exclusively.
Coppola’s $120 million epic, made and financed independently by Coppola himself, will be released theatrically and will also receive an IMAX release, as IMAX’s CEO had previously committed to doing regardless of the distributor. Lionsgate plans to release the film on September 27, 2024. Lionsgate Studios will also handle the distribution of “Megalopolis” across all home entertainment platforms.
“Megalopolis” is a Roman epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. Driver plays Cesar, a genius artist who wants to build The City of New Rome into a utopia, all against the will of the city’s mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) who prefers the status quo. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.
The film also stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman.
Coppola wrote, directed, and produced the film. “Megalopolis” is also produced by Fred Roos, Barry Hirsch, and Michael Bederman, and executive produced by Anahid Nazarian, Barrie Osborne, and Darren Demetre.
“One rule of business I’ve always followed and prioritized (to my benefit) is to continue working with companies and teams who over time have proven to be good friends as well as great collaborators,” Coppola said in a statement to IndieWire. “This is why I am thrilled to have Adam Fogelson and Lionsgate Studios release ‘Megalopolis.’ I am confident they will apply the same tender love and care given to ‘Apocalypse Now,’ which is currently in its 45th year of astounding revenue and appreciation.”
“Francis is a legend. For many of us, his gifts to cinema were one of the inspirations to devote our own careers to film,” Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson said in a statement. “It is a true privilege to work with him, and to bring this incredible, audacious, and utterly unique movie to theatrical audiences. At Lionsgate, we strive to be a home for bold and daring artists, and ‘Megalopolis’ proves there is no one more bold or daring than the maestro, Francis Ford Coppola.”
After it first screened for studio heads back on March 28, finding a buyer for “Megalopolis” looked like it could be an uphill battle, and it left Cannes without a North American distributor despite a healthy Cannes market, though it did secure a number of deals across the majority of international territories.
Some media reports labeled the film “batshit crazy,” and “Megalopolis” was saddled with the notion that Coppola hasn’t made a box office hit in three decades. Coppola was also looking for a major deal with a theatrical component and a lengthy window, not necessarily something a deep-pocketed streamer that wouldn’t put it in theaters would be willing to offer.
Coppola’s longtime attorney Barry Hirsch previously told IndieWire the initial intention was to secure a distribution deal prior to it premiering at a festival. But “Megalopolis” screened in competition at Cannes nonetheless, riding on the hype from critics who saw it at its world premiere and from a recent teaser showing Driver managing to stop time.
“We need to be as creative in the dealmaking as Francis was making this movie,” Hirsch said. “People have told me that the movie is unlike anything they’ve ever seen before, and maybe that’s where the dealmaking will need to be.”
Critic reactions to “Megalopolis” were mixed (it has only a 59 out of 100 on Metacritic), with some outlets labeling it something of a fiasco. But IndieWire was among its biggest admirers, saying in our “Megalopolis” review that Coppola “crams 85 years worth of artistic reverence and romantic love into a clunky, garish, and transcendently sincere manifesto about the role of an artist at the end of an empire.”
“Megalopolis” didn’t come home with the Palme d’Or, or any other prize, but he has won Cannes’ top prize twice before, both for “The Conversation” and “Apocalypse Now.” Some of the early reactions pegged “Megalopolis” as the director’s most ambitious film since his Vietnam War epic.
Coppola has insisted that “Megalopolis” is not his final film, which he’s also described as an “epic” that “won’t be cheap.”
Lionsgate previously distributed Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now Final Cut,” “The Conversation,” “The Cotton Club Encore,” “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” and “One From the Heart: Reprise.”
Through separate deals, the film previously secured distribution in the UK (Entertainment Film Distributors Limited), France (Le Pacte), Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (Constantin Film), Italy (Eagle Pictures), Spain (Tripictures), Australia (Madman Entertainment), Benelux (September Films), Bulgaria (Profilm), the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Film Europe), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom Film), Greece (Feelgood Entertainment), Hungary (Mozinet), Israel (Lev Cinemas), Morocco (Facility Event), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Romania (Independenta Film), Scandinavia (Njutafilms), and Turkey (Bir Film). Recently added territories are the Middle East (Cinewaves), Poland (Gutek), Ukraine and Baltics (Ad Astra), Tunisia (Retinia), Indonesia (Prima Cinema), and the Philippines (Pioneer). Goodfellas is in advanced negotiations for Latin America and Brazil, and in negotiations with the rest of Asia.
Coppola’s producer and longtime lawyer, Barry Hirsch of Hirsch Wallerstein Hayum Matlof + Fishman, oversaw the deal on behalf of American Zoetrope. Lauren Bixby and Christopher Davis oversaw the deal for Lionsgate.
Additional reporting by Anne Thompson
