Megalopolis Gets a Poster – Can It Turn on a New Generation?

Every so often I think about Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, which came out in 1968, a year as chaotic as this one. The movie blew the minds of young attendees, even if it confused the critics. It was something new. I have yet to see Megalopolis, but I am intrigued by the inventive marketing that might help boost the movie with Gen-Z, and they might have their minds blown.

Gen-Z doesn’t see movies the way most of us older folks do. They’re less interested in the traditional three-act structure. Of course, sit them down in front of a great movie and they’ll appreciate it. I do it with my daughter all the time. I just recently showed her Glengarry Glen Ross. We watch these movies with our own commentary about what could and what couldn’t be made today.

But their minds are open, having come of age in virtual spaces, playing lots of video games. So I wonder if the innovative strategy to market Megalopolis might work.

From World of Reel:

Speaking of marketing, it’s been rather tame. It’s very hard to promote a film without a studio, that’s a given, and Coppola’s recent hiring of Utopia to help him out is a clear sign that he needs the help. According to Deadline, Utopia’s task is to “implement specialty marketing, word-of-mouth, and non-traditional theatrical distribution initiatives targeting moviegoers”.

Here is Jordan’s synopsis:

Adam Driver plays Caesar, who is a tortured architectural genius. Lawrence Fishburne, who plays his chauffeur, narrates the story with biblical and Roman-inspired quotes. “Megalopolis” is, at its core, a love story between Natalie Emmanuel’s Julia and Driver’s Caesar. She’s the daughter of his political rival (Giancarlo Esposito). Tensions arise with Caesar’s vision of rebuilding New Rome (which is basically New York City) into a self-sustaining utopia filled with high technological advancements. The mayor wants the status quo and believes the changes Caesar want to make will bring about chaos.

Meanwhile, Aubrey Plaza plays a rival love interest of Caesar’s and, I kid you not, her character’s name is Wow Platinum. She’s a promiscuous gold digger who gets very jealous when Julia enters the picture. Wow decides to scheme and take down Caesar with the help of wild playboy Clodio Pulcher (Shia LaBoeuf, in drag). Jon Voight also shows up as billionaire Hamilton Crassus III, Clodio’s grandfather, who ends up marrying Wow — she plans to annul the prenup and then, obviously, kill him. That doesn’t seem to turn off Hamilton, who ends up showing her his massive erection.

I personally think what will blow Gen-Z’s mind, or any modern mind, is when storytellers can break from the status quo and write more satire, like Parasite but exposing hypocrisy of the powerful. We’re probably a long way off from it, but from my perspective, what is causing a bottleneck for Hollywood is the lack of daring in storytelling. I don’t really trust storytelling now because I feel like too many people are cut off from full spectrum reality. If you know what I mean. As I’ve said, there are so many stories to tell right now but no one will even talk about them.

Thanks to Feeling Blue for the tip. Frances Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis unveils a beautiful poster, bathed in golden light.