Mike Figgis’ Documentary on the Making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis Will Arrive This Fall

It’s been one year since Francis Ford Coppola unfurled his epic passion project Megalopolis at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by a fall theatrical release in which most press seemed to care more about its box office than artistic merit (it netted about 12% of its $120 million budget). The director has no plans to make that revenue up through a home-video or streaming release, as he’ll stick solely with theatrical bookings for the foreseeable future. However, we will get a deep dive into the making of the project soon.

Utopia has announced they’ve acquired North American rights for MEGADOC, an in-depth documentary by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) that goes behind the making of Megalopolis. The documentary, produced by Tara Li-An and James Mockoski, is being planned for a theatrical fall release, so we could see Francis Ford Coppola on the fall-festival circuit once again.

Here’s the synopsis: “The project all began from a chance encounter, sparked by an email between two old friends, with Coppola inviting Figgis to the Megalopolis set in the lead up to the first day of principal photography and granting him permission to document whatever he wished. Armed with a small camera and crew throughout the entire shoot, Figgis’s unrestricted access to the production gave way to Megadoc, a unique look into the creative process of one of the most revered directors of all time, and behind the curtain of the most ambitious film of his career.”

“Francis gave me access to everything, including the amazing archive material he’s accumulated of the many readings of the script as it went from one version to another. I was more or less free to go where I wanted,” Figgis said. “The cast were open about the working situation and how they were dealing with the idiosyncrasies of Francis and his very individual working methods. What a privilege to be a witness to such a moment in film history.”

“The great filmmaker Mike Figgis shot the making of MEGALOPOLIS as he saw it,” Coppola noted. “Interestingly, there are many interpretations of what really happened and it’s all in the documentary although the documentary doesn’t always say which is what…it is for the viewer to behold and interpret.”

The Megadoc deal was negotiated directly between Utopia and Figgis’ independent production company, Red Mullet. Robert Schwartzman of Utopia said in a statement, “Eleanor Coppola’s iconic feature documentary, HEARTS OF DARKNESS, gave audiences an incredible look and access to the making of APOCALYPSE NOW; a film that, in time, became highly regarded as one of the finest cinematic experiences of the era and beyond. Mike Figgis’s MEGADOC will be that to MEGALOPOLIS, opening up to audiences a behind the scenes journey spanning 40 years, where we will watch one of the greatest filmmakers at work.”

The post Mike Figgis’ Documentary on the Making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis Will Arrive This Fall first appeared on The Film Stage.