Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ to Premiere in Competition at Cannes

Director Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” is set to premiere in competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The film, a 20-year passion project for “The Godfather” filmmaker, has a fraught plotline involving the destruction of a New York-esque city that sees two men clash over their differing visions of the future. Adam Driver plays an ambitious architect butting heads with the city’s mayor, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Caught in the crossfire is the mayor’s daughter, played by Nathalie Emmanuel.

Coppola initially wrote the script for this in the 1980s and, in a desire to bring the film to fruition, invested over $100 million of his own money into the production. Production on the movie wrapped up last March, though it was given an interim waiver during the dueling WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike to allow Coppola and the crew to promote the picture.

Others in the cast include Dustin Hoffman, Chloe Fineman, Isabelle Kusman of “Licorice Pizza,” D.B. Sweeney and newcomer Bailey Ives. They join the previously announced Talia Shire, LaBeouf, Jason Schwartzmann, Grace Vanderwaal, Kathryn Hunter, James Remar, Jon Voight, Aubrey Plaza and Laurence Fishburne.

The film still currently lacks distribution though did have a screening for friends and industry insiders that, according to media reports, received a mixed response.

This isn’t Coppola’s first time at the Croisette in France. His 1966 comedy “You’re a Big Boy Now” screened at the festival, while two of his films won the Palme d’Or, making him one of only 10 directors to win Cannes’ top prize twice. His first Palme winner was his drama “The Conversation,” which won in 1974, while his Vietnam epic “Apocalypse Now” premiered Cannes as a work in progress in 1979 and tied for the Palme with “The Tin Drum.” Other Cannes appearances include the recut “Apocalypse Now Redux,” which screened in Cannes in 1995.

It’s hoped a coveted Cannes spot will secure “Megalopolis” a distributor.

Deadline first reported the news.