Adam Driver Schemes as an Empire Crumbles in Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Teaser

After a tantalizing teaser clip that showed Adam Driver precipitously balanced on the edge of a skyscraper, Francis Ford Coppola has dropped an even more tantalizing full teaser for his $120 million self-funded epic, Megalopolis.

The trailer opens with a striking image of what might be rockets or asteroids falling toward a New York City-esque city that’s actually called The City of New Rome. As Laurence Fishburne’s character says, “When does an empire die? Does it collapse in one terrible moment? No, no. But there comes a time when its people no longer believe in it.” 

It’s against this backdrop of a crumbling empire that Driver’s character, Cesar Catilina, an idealistic artist with utopian dreams, clashes with Mayor Franklyn Cicero (played by Giancarlo Esposito), upholder of the corrupt, greed-fueled status quo. Between the two men is not just the fate of New Rome but Cicero’s daughter, Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who’s fallen in love with Cesar. 

As for the rest of the Megalopolis trailer: Well, it looks absolutely wild. Coppola finds a balance between New York of the Roaring Twenties and a near-future, sci-fi New York — all of it drenched in an overflowing chalice of Ancient Roman excess. There are giant moving statues, chariot races in Madison Square Garden, riots in the streets, fist fights, and even old Soviet satellites orbiting the Earth. Cause why the hell not?

Along with Driver, Esposito, Emmanuel, and Fishburne, Megalopolis boasts a stacked all-star cast that includes Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D.B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman.

Coppola started developing Megalopolis all the way back in 1983 before finally reviving the project in 2019 and filming it in 2022. The film is set to have its world premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival this Thursday, May 16. While Megalopolis has found a handful of distributors in Europe, it’s yet to find one in the United States. 

From Rolling Stone US.