After Christmas, Francis Ford Coppola will be heading to London to a ‘strange’ new musical, Glimpses Of The Moon.
Francis Ford Coppola returned to filmmaking with this year’s Megalopolis, and say what you want about the filmmaker’s self-funded dream project (and plenty have), it was undeniably the film he wanted to make. It divided audiences, mystifying some and beguiling others. Time will tell whether it’ll be seen as a future masterpiece, but in terms of Megalopolis' commercial performance, it looks as though Coppola won’t be seeing much return on the reported $100m of his own funds that he ploughed into the film’s production.
As something of a maverick artist, though, money has never really bothered Coppola until he runs out of it, and we’re pretty sure he’s not in any danger of doing that. Still, the filmmaker has revealed that his next project has been funded in a more traditional fashion, with the film having been set up long before Megalopolis’ Cannes premiere back in May of this year.
Glimpses Of The Moon has been described by Coppola as ‘a strange 30s-style musical’, with the filmmaker telling The Washington Post that after he celebrates the festive period with his family, he’ll be moving to London, which is where production on the film will be based.
Read more: Megalopolis review | A towering, steaming pile of art
No cast has so far been revealed for the film, but it’s based on the 1922 novel of the same name by Edith Wharton. It introduces a young, penniless couple whose decision to finagle their way into high society in the search for money and comfort leads to jealousy and guilty consciences. Coppola also revealed that ‘the film has been “funded the conventional way, with the help of national subsidies, because I’m all borrowed out,” and that it “won’t be cheap by any means.” Unlike Megalopolis, it won’t be an “epic.”
The director previously made a romantic musical in 1982 – One From The Heart, which cost a then-huge $26m and was an infamous financial failure. Coppola will no doubt hope that history doesn’t repeat itself on the box office front.
Coppola isn’t yet done with epics, though, given that he wants to make one more film following Glimpses Of The Moon. That is set to be Distant Vision, a movie Coppola has previously stated is “immense.” According to World Of Reel, the film is “said to be inspired by the old TV dramas Coppola grew up with during childhood – almost like filming a theatre play with multiple cameras.”
How the filmmaker plans to fund it isn’t currently known, but he’s yet another member of a cabal of filmmakers who seems determined to keep making making films into his ninth decade.
We’ll let you know more about Glimpses Of The Moon, including casting, when we hear it.
