This film was made over 40 years, with the director spending Rs 1000 crore of his own money to make it but it may never release in theatres
Imagine a film that takes four decades to make. It stars three superstars, considered among the finest actors in the world. The budget is a hefty Rs 1000 crore. And yet, there may be no takers for it. It may never even release in theatres. This is the tragic story of a film that is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival this year but has been shunned by distributors.
The Rs 1000-crore film that took 40 years to make
In 1983, Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola began working on an ambitious film – Megapolis. The director had conceived the film back in 1979, right after he had finished the two Godfather films and Apocalypse Now. But writing and development began in 1983. But the dystopian futuristic idea he had seemed impossible to depict with the technology of the time and the film entered development hell. His production house again announced plans to begin filming in 1991 even though there was no script in place. Eventually, the script was finalised by 2001 and casting began but nothing was finalised for over a decade.
In 2019, the film finally entered pre-production with the director spending $120 million (Rs 1000 crore) of his own money to produce it. Shia LaBeouf and Adam Driver joined the cast and filming began in 2022. During filming, several crew members quit citing ‘unstable filming environment’. Despite the setbacks, filming commenced in March 2023, full 40 years after work on the film began.
Actors on the set of Megapolis (Image: IMDb)
The problem with Megapolis’ release
Megapolis is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year. But beyond that, its theatrical release is in doubt. A recent article in The Hollywood Reporter quoted a distributor as saying that the movie is difficult to release. “There is just no way to position this movie,” the distributor said, with others calling it ‘experimental’ or ‘not good’. Another source was quoted as saying , “Everyone is rooting for Francis and feels nostalgic. But then there is the business side of things.” As of now, there are serious doubts about the film’s theatrical release as studios are not willing to commit to Coppola’s $80-100 million (Rs 650-800 crore) expectation in publicity and marketing budget.
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 "Shia LaBeouf on the set of Megapolis")
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