An iconic director with a $100 million budget for an original film?

That’s quite unheard of nowadays.

Yet this is exactly the path the Francis Ford Coppola director intends to take.

The Godfather director is planning to invest $100 million-120 million of his personal fortune in funding his massive film Megalopolis, which centers around an architect who attempts to rebuild New York after a severe economic crisis devastates the city and its inhabitants. The film was looking to start rolling 20 years ago, yet the 9/11 attacks obstructed the project’s start.

In the age of tentpole superhero and blockbuster films, investing in an original IP (Intellectual Property) with no pre-established fan base is seen by Hollywood studios as quite the risky move, so how about putting forth a massive sum for a film seemingly dealing with grandiose philosophical and social ideals?

Coppola has always been a risk-taker, clashing with the studios to preserve his creative choices for The Godfather (1972) and further breaking all filmmaking rules to produce the juggernaut war film that is Apocalypse Now (1979). He is no stranger to financial challenges, notably when it came to films he produced such as Apocalypse Now and One from the Heart (1981).

Yet the filmmaker has been away from the spotlight for some time, with his last cinematic outing being Twixt (2011) a self-produced low-budget experimental horror. Though it seems this time he is aiming for a film that could be considered every cinephile’s dream, a blockbuster dealing with an ideal and hopeful future to counter the rampage of modern-day cynicism. The cast might include stars such as James Caan, Zendaya, Cate Blanchet, and Oscar Isaac with cameras set to roll in Fall 2022.

Coppola has previously come under fire for calling superhero films “despicable,” accusing them of ravaging cinemas worldwide. He commented by saying “The film industry that we’re leaving to the next generation is not quite as good as the one we received,” describing his upcoming Megalopolis as a “picture that really talks to young people in a hopeful way, that we are in a position to get together and solve any problem thrown at us.”

He hopes his film might leave a positive mark in a cinematic landscape that is becoming vehemently dominated by films accused of being all-artifice and lacking any soul.