How Will Theaters Handle the ‘Megalopolis’ Live Scene with Adam Driver When it Opens Wide?

“Megalopolis” is finally opening in theaters. Cinephiles have been buzzing about Francis Ford Coppola’s latest saga for months — despite all the drama surrounding it — and now they’ll finally get to see the polarizing and bonkers film.

Lionsgate, to its credit, is trying to preserve the theatrical experience that audiences at Cannes got when it premiered. That includes one of the most talked about scenes in the film: The “Megalopolis” live scene with Adam Driver.

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In the film, Cesar Catalina (Driver) is taking questions from reporters during a press conference, with his face seen in close-up. The reporter’s question to him comes from off-screen, but when the Cannes audience and others have seen it, a live person standing in the front of the auditorium has been the one fielding the questions for Catalina to respond.

It’s a cute, fourth-wall-breaking moment that has been a fan-favorite since Cannes. That carried over in the IMAX Experience screenings on Monday night, in which the studio recruited some special guests to be the one to approach the screen and field Driver’s character a scripted question. 60 different locations that screened the film all featured a live component. For one, at the screening in Los Angeles, entertainment journalist Scott Mantz was asked to take to the front of the auditorium with a microphone.

Some fans have shared videos and photos of the moment from inside their respective screening rooms, and in some cases the guest is provided a microphone or is on a raised stage platform. In the case of a Monday screening at the AMC Veterans 24 in Tampa that IndieWire attended, there was no spotlight on the chosen audience member but a mic stand was set up from before the start of the film. The lighting situation made it hard to decipher, however, as you can see in the photo below.

When the film goes wide this weekend, IndieWire can confirm that just as with the IMAX experience screenings, select movie theaters will recruit another performer set to attend the screening, head down to the front, and take part in the live scene with Driver’s character.

Those “Megalopolis” screenings will be labeled “The Ultimate Experience” when you’re buying your tickets, and each will feature what Lionsgate is calling a “Live Participant” as part of the movie. While most will also be on IMAX or PLF screens, there are a handful of the experiences that are available on standard screens.

It’s a pretty daunting logistical challenge, so unfortunately, far from all locations and screenings will feature the Live Participant. The movie is opening on 1,700 screens this weekend and 200 IMAX locations. At time of writing, 34 different showtimes on each of Friday and Saturday will offer the Ultimate Experience, and those encompass 23 different markets in North America, though more may be added later. Those without it will have a more traditional audio track voice over subbing in place of the live person.

Rumors abounded that theater employees might be asked to step in for the moment, or that random audience members could be recruited to participate, but such options don’t seem totally feasible. TBD what happens or how you’ll be asked to participate when “Megalopolis” finally lands on home video or streaming.

On Monday, Coppola participated in an actual Q&A that was streamed live to attendees before the film, in which the auteur was in conversation with Robert De Niro and Spike Lee. Coppola went on a tangent about Donald Trump and the looming November Presidential election, saying that he feared America would end up with an “emperor” leading the country in a few months time.

“Megalopolis” is projected for a fairly modest $5 million opening weekend at the domestic box office, but reports have noted that the financial burden is on Coppola himself, not Lionsgate. Coppola self-funded the movie with a $120 million budget and now took on the marketing and distribution costs to get the film on the big screen. We’re guessing getting live performers to be part of that rollout wasn’t cheap either.

But Coppola himself wrote the textbook “Live Cinema and Its Techniques,” a 2017 book in which he posited that digital technology would enable real-time advancements and innovations in movies in the same way that talkies revolutionized the form. Now audiences get the chance to see if he’s right.

Below, you can find the full list of theater locations and showtimes offering the “Ultimate Experience” for “Megalopolis” on opening night on Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday Sept. 28. More may be added later.

Editor’s Note: A prior version of this story said that Jason Schwartzman performed the live scene at the film’s Cannes premiere. It was a rep from Coppola’s production banner American Zoetrope. We regret the error.

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