Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project, “Megalopolis,” was a major box office disappointment over the weekend.
The Adam Driver-led apocalyptic sci-fi drama cost $120 million to make and earned just $4 million over its first three days. This put the project far behind an animated sci-fi film from DreamWorks called “The Wild Robot.” That family-friendly offering brought in $35 million and the top spot for the weekend box office, per Variety.
“Megalopolis” was funded by Coppola himself after he had initially conceived of the movie in the late 1970s. The 85-year-old director is a Hollywood legend with major cinematic achievements under his belt, including “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now.”
Coppola sold a large portion of his California vineyard holdings to help finance the film. “I couldn’t care less about the financial impact whatsoever. It means nothing to me,” the director told GQ in 2022 of his decision to self-finance the project. “It’s not as if $120 million is the extent of what I have.”
“Megalopolis” mainly received negative reviews. It currently has a 49% critics score (Tomatometer) and a 34% audience score (Popcornmeter) on Rotten Tomatoes.
“With so little to show for its staggering ambition to synthesize modern New York with the fall of the Roman Empire, Francis Ford Coppola’s all-star, self-financed passion project is a mess, but the lion who made it is still roaring, even in winter,” ABC News reviewer Peter Travers wrote.
“A daring saga that boasts far more moments that stumble than soar. It’s a mess that can be admired—but a mess, nonetheless,” the Daily Beast reviewer agreed.
Not every review was negative. Even those with criticisms agreed the project was unique and ambitious, which is more than can be said about an industry full of remakes and sequels.
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“Though the film is a jumble that oftentimes leaves its top-notch cast unmoored and renders its science-fiction elements somewhat anemic… Megalopolis is truly one from the heart, an outpouring from one cinephile to his tribe,” one reviewer wrote.
The New York Times reviewer said something similar, noting, “In the end, what matters is the movie, a brash, often beautiful, sometimes clotted, nakedly personal testament. It’s a little nuts, but our movies could use more craziness, more passion, feeling and nerve.”
“Megalopolis” stars Adam Driver as architect Cesar Catilina, who has dreams of building a utopian city after a catastrophic incident destroys a large city resembling New York. His plans receive pushback from various characters and support from others.
Other big-name stars in the production include Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman.
