‘Megalopolis': After Wild Speculation, What Exactly Is So ‘Bats-' About Francis Ford Coppola's Opus?

Warning: Minor spoilers ahead for “Megalopolis”

Francis Ford Coppola has made quite the return to directing. Industry chatter about his new film “Megalopolis,” a passion project more than 20 years in the making, has been churning since a late March screening for prospective buyers.

This week, reports said Coppola was struggling to find a splashy distribution deal for his 135-minute epic, about a dystopia in the throes of an energy revolution. As a response – call it cosmic or intentional – Coppola rebounded by booking a spot in competition at the forthcoming Cannes Film Festival, where the movie is looking to reset the narrative. It’s not dissimilar to the skepticism that greeted another Coppola passion project, “Apocalypse Now,” which was derided by many as a vanity project before it screened at Cannes as a work in progress, going on to capture the Palme d’Or.

What fate awaits “Megalopolis” and how will Hollywood contend with a movie that’s already elicited so many hot takes? Some were clearly put off and baffled, calling the film “batshit” and faulting it for being unconcerned with conventional storytelling. Others were euphoric, sometimes eye-rollingly so, or made earnest attempts to reconcile the buzz with Coppola’s larger body of work. For the most part, these impressions were vague as to why the buyers screening was so shocking.

Coppola’s long-gestating script is armed with ambiguous moral codes, sex, drugs, violence and reflections on the uncertain future of America, multiple sources who have seen the film told Variety. These themes are explored with a starry cast that includes Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito and “SNL” player Chloe Fineman.

Let’s start with the sex. For anyone who feels this is a tasteless jumping off point, go ask Emma Stone and Barry Keoghan. They just spent the past year addressing nudity and on-screen intimacy in their Oscar campaigns – something awards voters talk about and audiences definitely talk about. The same will be true about one scene involving Plaza and LaBeouf in “Megalopolis.”

While we won’t divulge exactly what transpires between the two, one attendee likened it the 2012 film “The Paperboy,” in which Nicole Kidman aggressively urinates on Zac Efron after he’s stung by a jellyfish. That specific act isn’t in “Megalopolis,” but Plaza will earn attention for her character’s demands for female pleasure, sources said. Surrounding that scene is plenty of “orgiastic” fare, another person who saw the film said, involving numerous decadent party scenarios.

“Some people felt it was, ‘Here’s boobs, here’s drugs.’ But the decadence has a larger context for Coppola, it feels a bit like a cautionary tale about where America is headed,” said that viewer.

There are also moments that border on the absurd, which can be effective in the context of high art or, as we’ll find out, become meme fodder for social platforms. One such instance involves Voight. Viewers described a “wild” sequence with the Oscar-winner that starts with a hospital bed erection and ends with the reveal of “one of the strangest weapons I’ve ever seen on screen,” noted one person inside the screening.

What is perhaps most audacious, per all the parties we spoke with who saw “Megalopolis,” is the abandon with which Coppola pursues his work. “There is a nobility in how defiant a film ‘Megalopolis’ is,” one top executive said. “This is Coppola tearing down the temple of contemporary Hollywood.”

So what does that mean for the distribution prospects for “Megalopolis”? On Monday, THR reported that the film is facing an “uphill battle” in landing a splashy deal, mostly due to Coppola’s expectations around marketing commitments from the studio ($140 million for a global P&A spend, reportedly). Barry Hirsch, longtime Coppola legal consigliere and producer of “Megalopolis,” is directly selling the film as opposed to recruiting one of the top agencies like CAA Media Finance or WME Independent, though we hear he’s working with two distribution consultants.

Guesswork by industry players said a label like Neon, prone to big risks that pay off, might take the film. Others thought prestige players like Searchlight or Focus might be able to sell the unconventional movie to a broader audience. But will they pay top dollar? Numerous sources felt the movie was not meant for a streamer, even one that would offer “Megalopolis” a robust theatrical outing before going on the service, and said it would likely sell piecemeal around the globe.

Despite those setbacks, the film has offers to play every major film festival in 2024, sources close to the project said, which can help marketing and awards season launches. In terms of golden trophies, sources said the strongest performance in the film is from Emmanuel, thanks to her sheer commitment. Driver, who plays the inventor of a mystery substance that the film title refers to, plays her lover and the affair drives the primary tension in the script. The rest of the ensemble bring “outsize personalities who feel like they’re in their own movie. Everyone is dialed up to 11,” one source said. Another top film exec said they could see the costumes and cinematography of “Megalopolis” getting some traction in the awards race, or at least lend some filmmaking credibility to offset some of its campier elements.

One possible roadblock for a global press tour is LaBeouf and Hoffman. Both men are considered by some as problematic. In 2021, LaBeouf was accused of sexual battery, sexual harassment and emotional abuse by former partner FKA Twigs, all of which LaBeouf vehemently denied. The actor has not appeared in a major film since the accusations were leveled. Hoffman was also accused of sexual harassment during the MeToo period – he denied the allegations.

Hoffman, according to sources, doesn’t log enough screen time to make an impression. LaBeouf, some feel, will not be riding “Megalopolis” to a glorious comeback. Sources noted that LaBeouf’s shaved eyebrows and physicality – used to punctuate his character – were more distracting than artful.

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