A week ago — yes, it’s been a week — Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” premiered in Cannes to decidedly mixed reactions.
After one week, there is still no US distributor. The unusual movie has sold in a bunch of countries where the incredible images from the film and the huge cast of stars may attract audiences who don’t speak English and may just ignore the story. No kidding.
But beyond the screenplay there’s a bigger question about “Megalopolis.” At the few screenings so far, a live actor walks onto the stage of the theater, or down into the aisle, and speaks to a character on the screen. It’s as if Woody Allen’s “Purple Rose of Cairo” were real! I’m told the picture on the screen changes, too, as it highlights the one dimensional person addressing the live actor.
Will this happen in every theater at every showing? The French distributor says they’re open to giving it a try in 22 iMAX theaters. But France is the size of Texas. It’s hard to imagine this going on three times a day in 2,000 US venues. Will the ushers be enlisted? (That would be fun.) A scaliwag friend of mine suggests, “They’ll just pull people in off the street and offer them free popcorn!”
This could be one reason why, after a week, there’s still no answer about who will be in charge of bringing “Megalopolis” to the movie going audience.
