Megalopolis’ first teaser makes it look like everything Coppola dreamt it would be

After gestating in the mind of writer / director Francis Ford Coppola for the better part of the last century, Megalopolis is finally making its way to the big screen at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. And from the looks of the sci-fi epic’s first teaser trailer, it might be just about everything Coppola always dreamt it would be.

Set in a sprawling metropolis that’s been devastated by a cataclysmic natural disaster, Megalopolis tells the story of how architect Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) tries to rebuild the city using his unusual ability to control time. There seems to be no stopping or reversing the shower of flaming meteors that descend upon the city in the new trailer as Cesar and other citizens watch in horror. But as imperiled as the city may be, Cesar appears to be dead set on trying to convince people how it could be remade as a utopia if only they would understand his visions for a better future.

With the present being so filled with chaos, glamorous excess, and destruction, the future Cesar wants to make real probably feels something like a dream that others can’t fully wrap their minds around. The trailer makes that feel somewhat true of Megalopolis as a whole as well, but that may wind up being part of the film’s appeal when it eventually makes its theatrical debut after premiering at Cannes.