Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” in Imax release: Cannes

Imax is going big, mega even, unveiling the highly anticipated Francis Ford Coppola on Thursday Megalopoliswhich premieres Thursday night at the Cannes Film Festival, will be released worldwide in Imax format.

“The film will be released by Imax,” Imax CEO Richard Gelfond told the press during an event in Cannes on Thursday Megalopolis. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is our kindness to filmmakers. That’s why we signed Francis to do a worldwide Imax release.”

On Monday, the director released the first teaser trailer for his epic, self-financed passion project, showing more of the scope and ambition of the project with its large ensemble cast, dynamic shots of a utopian society and protests.

According to early descriptions, the film is a Roman epic set in an imaginary modern America. Adam Driver directs Megalopolis and the film's cast includes Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Jason Schwartzman, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, DB Sweeney and Dustin Hoffman.

Coppola first began writing Megalopolis in 1983, and the film reportedly cost $120 million to produce, financed in part by the sale of a significant portion of the director's wine empire. In late March, he hosted a screening of the project for potential buyers, attended by Universal's Donna Langley, Netflix's Ted Sarandos and Sony's Tom Rothman. However, sales experts have pointed to challenges in positioning the film.