With filming on Francis Ford Coppola’s $100 million budget epic “Megalopolis” having wrapped two weeks ago, talk has turned towards the film’s release. Sadly, those hoping for it to be a potential awards contender this year will have to wait.
Following a reveal at Wondercon 2023, Popverse reports that comics publisher Syzygy will be releasing a graphic novel tie-in for the film with both the comic and film being timed for a 2024 release.
In the film, the fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this story of a New York woman which is divided between loyalties to her father, who has a classical view of society, and her lover, who is more progressive and ready for the future.
Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Chloe Fineman, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, DB Sweeney, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Bailey Ives, Grace Vanderwaal, James Remar, and Giancarlo Esposito star.
Coppola wrote the script and is himself financing the long-gestating project which has been a dream of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” director for years. Despite one brief flurry of reports during filming, production appears to have gone as scheduled.
The comic hails from Syzygy co-founder Chris Ryall and artist Jacob Phillips who were contacted by Coppola and spent time on set developing this adaptation. Ryall confirms the project wasn’t licensed out in anyway and he worked directly with Coppola on the film, telling the outlet:
“The movie and the book are solely his. We spent a few hours in Atlanta last month talking about not only this graphic novel but the childhood comics he loved, and all the way along, he’s been permissive and encouraging in telling us to make the book very much its own thing. So it’s been a kind of stunning arrangement, to get to work directly with someone of his stature on something like this.”
Coppola said earlier this year the hope is to open the film everywhere on the same day, but that date hasn’t been specified as yet.
