Adam Driver Pitches Egomaniacal Utopian Future in Official ‘Megalopolis’ Trailer

Adam Driver plays a visionary genius looking to save New York City by building a utopian, idealistic future, while dislodging an elite ruling class to do so, in the official trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded Megalopolis, which dropped Wednesday.

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Early Wednesday, to be exact, because late in the day, Lionsgate took down its trailer after it was revealed to include fabricated review quotes from movie critics. Said a Lionsgate spokesperson in a statement: “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for Megalopolis . We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process.  We screwed up.  We are sorry.”

While the trailer was taken down by Lionsgate, other versions still are online (see below).

The trailer featured a number of reviews for Francis Ford Coppola masterpieces such as The Godfather , The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now . The idea seemed to be to show that Coppola has been doubted before, even for movies that are considered classics. But as Vulture pointed out, the negative quotes featured in the trailer do not actually appear in those vintage reviews.

But back to the original trailer, before taken down. “Don’t let the now destroy the forever,” Driver’s Cesar Catilina character says from his offices in the Chrysler Building of his hopes for humanity in the event movie that reimagines the Roman Empire in modern America on the brink of ruin. To achieve his vision, Cesar must battle the pragmatist mayor Franklyn Cicero, played by Giancarlo Esposito.

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Cicero inherited a fiscal disaster from the previous administration and wants to build a casino complex to boost revenue for modern New York City. And torn between Cesar and Cicero is Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s independently minded daughter facing divided loyalties.

The latest trailer underlines the scale and ambition of Coppola’s passion project, and includes Madison Square Garden turned into a Colosseum with gladiatorial contests and chariot races. “In many ways, Cesar’s mission, both noble and egomaniacal, seems a direct reflection of the dogged determination of Francis Ford Coppola to get this movie made at any cost,” The Hollywood Reporter ‘s David Rooney said in his movie review.

The Hollywood director first began writing Megalopolis in 1983, and the film reportedly cost $120 million to make , which was funded in part by the sale of a significant portion of the director’s wine empire. Megalopolis will hit theaters Sept. 27, thanks to Lionsgate and Imax , after Coppola’s latest movie bowed in Cannes and has a North American premiere in Toronto .

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