Thursday, June 4, 2026

Coppola Leases “Megalopolis” to Lions Gate for September Release in Distribution Only Deal

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Francis Ford Coppola is releasing “Megalopolis” on his own. He’s gotten Lions Gate to distribute it, for a fee. But the studio did not acquire the three hour film.

“Megalopolis” will open September 27th presumably after screenings in Toronto, Telluride, and Venice. Or maybe not. Screening in Cannes was a mistake, and so was the early private screening for half of Hollywood’s A list in April.

Coppola is the Diamond Jim of Hollywood gamblers. He’s sunk $100 million of his own money into the sprawling, unusual, and doesn’t care about getting it back. How cool is that? This is his passion project and he wants it one way or the other.

Adam Driver and Giancarlo Esposito lead a huge A list cast that tells the story of a post-apocalyptic New York that pits the mayor against a Robert Moses like architect. They have differing views of how to rebuild the city.

So far, even with bad reviews from Cannes, “Megalopolis” is still must see. For one thing, it may require a live actor to appear on stage at every screening! Also, the cinematography looks amazing.

So off we go!

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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