If you’ve kept an ear to the ground this year, cinematically-speaking, you’ll likely have heard about Megalopolis – the latest opus from Francis Ford Coppola, long in the making, largely self-funded, and, by all accounts, an absolutely wild watch. The legendary filmmaker behind The Godfather trilogy (and Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula – we could go on) has spoken for decades about his desire to make a film set in a modern-day America styled like the Roman Empire, as society collapses; this year, Megalopolis finally arrives, with Coppola having poured much of his own wine fortune into its production. After a split reception at Cannes, it’s officially confirmed to hit UK cinemas at the end of the summer.

Having secured a distribution deal, Megalopolis will hit cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 27 September – meaning audiences will get to make their own minds up on whether Coppola’s latest epic is a uniquely unmissable oddity, or a gigantic swing-and-miss. Either way, it boasts a sprawling and starry cast – led by Adam Driver as futuristic architect Cesar Catalina, joined by the likes of Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jason Schwartzman, and Talia Shire.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”

Stay tuned this September to see if Megalopolis is mega-top-olis, or a mega-flop-olis.

Source: Empire