Francis Ford Coppola has spoken out on a recent trend — women asking men in their lives how often they think about the Roman Empire.
The auteur revealed that he often thinks about the empire’s rise and fall, and then tied Roman history as the inspiration for his upcoming, self-financed film, Megalopolis.
“How often do I think of Ancient Rome? Quite a lot,” Coppola wrote. “The Roman Republic served as the example for my country America and its institutions, and was the inspiration for my upcoming film Megalopolis.
“My fascination with the Roman Republic is based on the struggle between the political parties during which the interest of the Republic yielded to the ambitions of a few powerful men who espoused the aims of political parties to establish their own fortunes and authority by relying upon armed forces to achieve those ends, dealing the final blow to a constitution already tottering to its fall.”
Although plot details remain vague, Megalopolis takes place in the future. The official synopsis: “The fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this epic story of political ambition, genius and conflicted love.”
“Megalopolis” stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, and Jon Voight.