Francis Ford Coppola to host S.F. screening of ‘Megalopolis,' the way it was ‘meant to be seen'
Billed as 'An Evening With Francis Ford Coppola and 'Megalopolis' Screening,' the Aug. 1 event at the Palace of Fine Arts is the final stop on a tour organized by Live Nation. Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com.
'Megalopolis,' released theatrically in September, was the 'Godfather' filmmaker's dream project for decades. The Napa Valley resident famously footed the $120 million budget himself in part by selling a portion of his Sonoma County wine empire. The film, beset by controversy, pulled in only $14 million globally. Later, Coppola suggested he was near bankruptcy.
The film has divided critics, including here at the Chronicle.
Undeterred, the 86-year-old Coppola has declined to release the film to streaming, and has hosted screenings off and on since the film's run in theaters.
'This is the way 'Megalopolis' was meant to be seen, in a large venue, with a crowd and followed by intense interactive discussions about the future,' Coppola said in a statement released by Live Nation.
After the screening of the over two-hour epic, Coppola is scheduled to host an 'in-depth interactive discussion' called 'How to Change Our Future.' The discussion also includes a Q&A with the audience.
'Megalopolis' stars Adam Driver as architect Cesar Catilina, whose vision of a utopia in New Rome is at odds with corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), with the mayor's daughter (Nathalie Emmanuel) caught in the middle. The all-star cast includes Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza and Dustin Hoffman.
Driver defended the film and its maker as Coppola received the American Film Institute's 50th Life Achievement Award at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles in April.
'This is a principled life, and for a year in our culture when the importance of the arts is minimized, and our industry is seemingly out in the open, then the only metric to judge a film's success is by how much money it makes,' Driver said. 'I hang on to individuals like Francis for inspiration, who live through their convictions, through big moves, all in service of pushing the medium forward.
'Francis took $120 million and created a singular gesture for what he thought film could be, and I think that's pretty great.'
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