Megalopolis Trailer Warns That Critics Get It Wrong All The Time After 53% Rotten Tomatoes Score Only4Media.com

A new trailer has been released for Megalopolis. Francis Ford Coppola’s high-concept sci-fi drama is about an architect who seeks to rebuild New York City into a utopia following a huge disaster. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this spring and will get a wider domestic release on September 27, 2024. Megalopolis features a leading cast including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talie Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, and Grace VanderWaal.

Now, Lionsgate has released the latest trailer for Megalopolis.

After a voiceover says “true genius is often misunderstood,” the trailer transitions to a short montage of the bad reviews that have surfaced in Coppola’s career, in a filmography timeline that includes The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. The scene then transitions to a moment within Megalopolis where Driver’s character stands on the top of a building and controls traffic, as the voiceover continues to say that “one director has always been ahead of his time.” The trailer’s fast-paced final moments show the character continuing on his utopian building tasks, as he works to construct the titular Megalopolis.

Is This Megalopolis Trailer Predicting The Film’s Future?

That Future May Not Look Positive…

This Megalopolis trailer is clearly influenced by Coppola’s perspective, and not just because it hinges on him being a genius. It also echoes things that the director has said before surrounding works of his like Apocalypse Now being misunderstood. Responding to Megalopolis reviews, the director noted back in April that there were “very contradictory views expressed” about Apocalypse Now, but the film stood the test of time and is “very profitable” even today. The trailer for Megalopolis seems to adopt a similar stance.

But by using films from over four decades ago as examples of those that have held up over the years, the editing of the latest Megalopolis trailer seems to indicate that even if the film will find its audience eventually, it might not necessarily do well now. There is some truth to this stance already, as the early reviews gave Megalopolis a mixed 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. This latest trailer echoes Coppola’s assertion that Megalopolis‘ critics will be proven wrong, and everyone will only come to realize the film’s genius later on.

A month out from release, it will be interesting to see how Megalopolis‘ predicted critical demise aligns (or misaligns) with how the film does at the box office. Reports say that the Megalopolis budget is somewhere in the camp of $120 million, so even if it doesn’t have a major studio’s marketing spend, it will need to play like a blockbuster to make a profit. Even with the IMAX push, this is a hefty sum for a high-concept, non-summer film like Megalopolis, so the chance that the film loses money is still entirely a possibility.

Source: Lionsgate

Megalopolis (2024)

4.0

Megalopolis, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is a visionary 2024 film exploring the ambitious dream of reconstructing New York City into a utopia, following a devastating disaster. The narrative delves into the clash between the architect’s utopian vision and the political and personal turmoil that ensues. With a star-studded cast, the film examines themes of ambition, power, and the human spirit’s resilience against the backdrop of a futuristic metropolis.

Cast

Adam Driver , Forest Whitaker , Nathalie Emmanuel , Jon Voight , Laurence Fishburne , Aubrey Plaza , Shia LaBeouf , Jason Schwartzman , Grace VanderWaal , Kathryn Hunter , Talia Shire , Dustin Hoffman , D. B. Sweeney , Giancarlo Esposito

Runtime

138 Minutes

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