Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' gets distribution at Lionsgate

Lionsgate said Monday that it had acquired the rights to Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis” for the United States and Canada, ending months of speculation about which studio might distribute the famed director's epic passion project. The film will hit national theaters, including Imax screens, on September 27.

“Megalopolis” is the five-time Oscar winner's first new film since 2011's “Twixt,” and Coppola has reportedly invested about $120 million of his own money, raised from the sale of part of his wine business, to pay for the movie. ambitious story.

With a cast that includes Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Fineman, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf and Laurence Fishburne, the film is a sprawling fable that examines the power struggles set in a fictional New York. , remodeled to look like New Rome.

When the film premiered last month at the Cannes film festival, Josh Rothkopf of The Times wrote that if “Megapolis” becomes the 85-year-old “Godfather” filmmaker's final effort, then “he won't come away with anything tame and well cared for.” but with an overloaded, vigorous and seething story about the roots of fascism that only an uncharitable viewer would call a catastrophe.”

“It may be the most radical film he has ever made,” Rothkopf wrote.

Lionsgate has a long-standing relationship with Coppola and his American Zoetrope brand, having previously handled the home entertainment releases of his “Apocalypse Now Final Cut,” “The Conversation,” “The Cotton Club Encore,” “Tucker: The Man and His Dream” and “One from the Heart: Repeat.”

While speaking at the film's press conference in Cannes, Coppola addressed the bold stylistic leap of “Megalopolis” by saying, “I knew the film wasn't like other films that have been released. That's how I felt the movie should be and since I was paying for it I thought I had the right [to do it my way].”