In this universe, Christianity doesn’t exist
Tale
The city of New Rome faces the duel between Caesar Catilina, a brilliant artist in favor of an Utopian future, and the greedy mayor Franklyn Cicero. Between them is Julia Cicero, with her loyalty divided between her father and her beloved.. Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script in the early 1980s, but the film was kept on the back-burner partially due to his financial debts. Pre-production finally began in 2001 after filming 30 hours of second unit footage and holding a table read with Paul Newman, Uma Thurman, Robert De Niro, James Gandolfini, Nicolas Cage, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Edie Falco, and Kevin Spacey, but the project was scrapped after the September 11 attacks, because a scene from the script (page 166) "predicted" the attacks. Coppola fully abandoned the project in 2007, and didn’t begin developing it again until 2019.. At 21:40, Catilina’s character says the phrase "Holy Jesus Christ!" in amazement. Yet, within universe, the city of New Rome stems from a culture based on Roman Mythology (example: 54:47, the dedication to Vesta; 01:55:51, someone says "The will of Cronus", or at 01: 56:49, a statue of Saturn is displayed prominently, while there are many more depictions of Roman deities).
Julia Cicero: Yeah
There’s no reason Catilina would use the phrase "Holy Jesus Christ!" and in such context.. Caesar Catilina: *You* wanna help me? And, well, I… well, I want to learn. Cesar Catilina: And you think one year of… medical school entitles you to plow through the riches of my Emersonian mind? Julia Cicero: Entitles me?
And literature, and
Cesar Catilina: Yes.Julia Cicero: [scoffs] Entitles me?Caesar Catilina: Yeees!Julia Cicero: Entitles me?Caesar Catilina: YEEEEEES!Julia Cicero: You have no idea about me! You think I am nothing, just a socialite? Cesar Catilina: No, not nothing, but I reserve my time for people who can think. About science. architecture and art. You find me cruel, selfish and unfeeling? I am.
Caesar Catilina: Come back when you have more time!
I work without caring what happens to either of us. So go back to the cluuuub, bare it all, and stalk the kind of people that you enjoy.Julia Cicero: Fine! I will. The "Ultimate IMAX Experience" version of the film features a live actor asking questions during the filmed press conference.. Featured in Amanda the Jedi Show: MEGALOPOLIS is my Nightmare | Explained (2024). My PledgeWritten by Grace VanderWaalPerformed by Grace VanderWaalCourtesy of Columbia RecordsBy arrangement with Sony Music EntertainmentProduced and Orchestrated by Kris Kukul. In Hollywood, even the best directors can spend years trying to get a project off the ground.
Coppola is undeniably a filmmaking genius, however his best works were done in the 1970’s and early 80’s
George Miller first came up with the idea for 'Mad Max: Fury Road' 28 years before it was released; Clint Eastwood sat on the script for 'Unforgiven' for over a decade, as did Robert Duvall with 'The Apostle'. Martin Scorsese considered making 'Gangs of New York' as far back as 1970, while it took Terry Gilliam nearly 30 years to complete 'The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'. Were it not for their director's relentless passion, projects like these would go unrealized, and the world would be missing some truly great cinema. Conversely, after such a long gestation period, there is a risk that that same passion can cloud creative judgment, resulting in works that are more self-indulgent than impactful. Such is the case with Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis,' a meandering, exasperating epic that took the great director over 47 years to make. His output has been more miss than hit since then, and his semiretirement after 1997’s 'The Rainmaker' seemed to indicate that he was tired of the movie business.
