• Francis Ford Coppola's “Megalopolis” opens in theaters on Friday after decades in development.
• The film is set in an imaginary New York City and stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza and Giancarlo Esposito.
• It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 51%.

The saga of Francis Ford Coppola bringing his epic new film “Megalopolis” to the big screen is almost as long and exciting as the film itself.

The project took decades to develop, and stars like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio were both interested in appearing in it at one point. Coppola even commissioned a symphony for the film, almost two decades before a single frame of it had been shot. After numerous false starts, Coppola finally began filming his fable in 2022, which he financed himself with $120 million.

Set in an imaginary New York City, “Megalopolis” follows a visionary architect named Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) as he clashes with a corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) as he attempts to rebuild the city after a devastating disaster. The film also stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Dustin Hoffman.

Coppola's epic has been mired in controversy since its screening at the Cannes Film Festival in May. There have been allegations of misconduct by Coppola on set, and a trailer released by Lionsgate, which is releasing the film, was pulled after it was found to contain fabricated quotes from critics.

The critical response to “Megalopolis” was no less polarizing. At the time of release, the film had a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Here's what critics think about the film, which hits theaters Friday.