Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Sets New York Film Fest Advance Screening

Francis Ford Coppola will bring his sci-fi epic Megalopolis to the New York Film Festival for an advanced screening on Sept. 23.

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The special event selection at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York will be preceded by Imax livestreaming a Q&A with Coppola to 66 giant screen theaters across the U.S. The advanced screening of Coppola’s pricey passion project from Lionsgate and Imax comes ahead of Megalopolis hitting theaters Sept. 27, and after festival premiere screenings in Cannes and Toronto.

“Working with the legendary Francis Ford Coppola has been a complete privilege, and we are proud to have his groundbreaking film take part in the 62nd New York Film Festival,” Adam Fogelson, chair of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.

The marketing of Megalopolis has not been without drama as the sci-fi’s initial trailer was pulled by Lionsgate on Aug. 21, after just one day, when it was revealed that the critics’ quotes being cited in the teaser were bogus. Megalopolis released a new trailer (below) Thursday along with the Imax announcement. The new preview doesn’t feature any critics’ quotes.

After decades in development, Coppola put part of his personal fortune into the $120 million project, which stars Adam Driver as a man obsessed with creating a utopian city. Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza and Giancarlo Esposito are among the cast.

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For Imax, the scale and ambition of Megalopolis will play well on its big screens as the epic includes Madison Square Garden turned into a Colosseum with gladiatorial contests and chariot races.

Lionsgate, a studio with longstanding ties to Coppola and his American Zeotrope banner, previously distributed some of its projects on home entertainment, including Apocalypse Now Final Cut , The Conversation , The Cotton Club Encore , Tucker: The Man and His Dream and One From the Heart: Reprise .

Dennis Lim, artistic director of NYFF, will lead the pre-screening conversation with Coppola.

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