Megalopolis Gets R-Rating As Sci-Fi Epic From Master Director Heads To Theaters
Francis Ford Coppola has never shied away from going big with his movies, and his latest project, Megalopolis, is no different as the title has officially been slapped with an R-rating, courtesy of the MPAA. As per the organization, the movie has been given an adults-only rating due to “sexual content, nudity, drug use, language and some violence.” In short, audiences can expect the decades-in-the-making movie to be in the same vein as so many of the legendary filmmaker’s other titles.
The Story
Pulling inspiration from centuries-old Roman history, Megalopolis takes place in modern-day America where the city of New Rome has been struck by a tragic disaster and reduced to rubble. At the center of the story is Adam Driver’s (House of Gucci) Cesar Catilina, an incredibly gifted architect whose vision for the future of New Rome greatly differs from that of the city’s corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito).
Caught in between the love of her life and her father is Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) who wants to support Cesar’s dreams while still staying loyal to the Mayor who is also her father.
The Cast
Not only does Megalopolis shine with its three leading cast members but the call sheet is dotted with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Joining Esposito, Emmanuel, and Driver in Coppola’s latest drama are Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix franchise), Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation), Shia LaBeouf (Even Stevens), Jon Voight (National Treasure), Jason Schwartzman (The Darjeeling Limited), Dustin Hoffman (Midnight Cowboy), and more.
A Long Time Coming
Seeing his project finally celebrate its day in theaters will be a dream come true for Francis Ford Coppola who has been working on Megalopolis for decades – and technically since his childhood.
The film has had a long gestation period as the director revealed that he first started putting pen to paper for it back when he was working on his iconic wartime epic, Apocalypse Now, in 1977. By the early ‘80s, Coppola was fully pouring himself into the drama of New Rome but would end up being sidetracked time and time again thanks to budget constraints and script rewrites.
Digging Himself Out Of Debt
When the ‘90s came along, Coppola said that the movie that would eventually become Megalopolis was being put on the back burner so he could focus his time on a slew of other titles including Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jack, and The Rainmaker – each of which were gigs he took on to unbury himself from the debuts accumulated from One from the Heart and Tucker: The Man and His Dream.
Throughout the 2000s, Coppola picked up the torch for Megalopolis again but continued to face roadblock after roadblock even though he had the interest and the talent to make his dream movie come to life.
Megalopolis
Finally, in 2019, Megalopolis was a go and, with nothing standing in his way (except for the pesky and unforseen COVID-19 pandemic), Francis Ford Coppola reached for his biggest goal of all.
After a slowdown caused by the aforementioned pandemic, cameras began rolling on Megalopolis in 2022 and soon, audiences will see what years upon years of planning, preparations, rewrites, recastings, and boatloads of money will do for a dream when the star-studded film embraces its R-rating on screens on September 27.
