Francis Ford Coppola has never played it safe. He cast a then-shunned Marlon Brando in "The Godfather," filmed his Vietnam-themed epic "Apocalypse Now" in the Philippine jungles during a war and opted to make a movie about a bold automaker, Preston Tucker, who failed.
In so many instances, the filmmaker has put his personal vision first, and the results have ranged from box office flops to cinematic gold ... not to mention five Oscars.
So it comes as no surprise that with his latest movie, "Megalopolis," which made its North American premiere recently at Toronto International Film Festival, Coppola, 85, has once again thrown caution to wind. To finance his sprawling allegorical tale about urban greed, the director has poured $120 million harvested from his successful Napa Valley wine business into the film.
Not that Coppola seems worried. As he told GQ a few years ago as production on "Megalopolis" geared up, studio executives reacted to his new movie the same way they did "when I had won five Oscars and was the hottest film director in town and walked in with ‘Apocalypse Now’ and said, ‘I’d like to make this next.’ ”
"I own ‘Apocalypse Now,'" he said. "Do you know why I own ‘Apocalypse Now’? Because no one else wanted it.”
Here's what you need to know about Coppola's new big-screen opus:
"Megalopolis" is a notable detour for Coppola, whose past movies are rooted in specific eras and in reality. For this film, which he has subtitled "A Fable," the director is off on a futuristic science-fiction tangent while being inspired by the ancient past.
The movie stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, who is determined to rebuild a city that seems like New York after an accident plunges it into ruins. But Cesar's utopian vision is challenged by corrupt mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who would rather keep the graft-riddled husk of a city the way it is. Complicating matters is Cicero's daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), who comes between the two feuding men.
Coppola has been working on the script for four decades, and has taken much of his inspiration from the rise and fall of the Roman Empire (hence the name of Driver's character, Cesar).
Beyond Driver and Esposito, the core cast includes Aubrey Plaza as a TV presenter named Wow Platinum, Shia LaBeouf as Cesar Catalina’s cousin Clodio Pulcher, and Jon Voight as Catalina’s uncle and bank boss, Hamilton Crassus III.
Other notable cast members include Laurence Fishburne − who launched his career at 14 in "Apocalypse Now" − as both the film's narrator and Catalina’s driver. In addition, Coppola’s sister, Talia Shire, perhaps best known for her role as Rocky Balboa's wife in the "Rocky" films, appears as Catalina's mother, while Jason Schwartzman is part of Esposito's corrupt cadre.
"Megalopolis" has had a rocky road to the big screen. After premiering to mixed reviews at Cannes Film Festival last May, it was bought a month later by Lionsgate, which will distribute the film.
Coppola's epic will screen Sept. 23 in select IMAX theaters and be released Sept. 27 in traditional theaters.