Not counting Wednesday and Thursday previews, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” only made $800k on Friday night. It looks like it will have a $4M opening. Not good. The budget, self-financed by Coppola himself, was said to be $136M.
Of course, commercial success does not equate to quality art, and vice versa. However, if critics have been generally split on “Megalopolis,” audiences seem to absolutely hate it. The exits have resulted in a D+ CinemaScore, 1/2 star and 45% positive on PostTrak, and a 5.6/10 on IMDb.
It’s not that far fetched to state that “Megalopolis” is unlike any film you’ve seen before. Every frame, every line of dialogue in the film is … a choice. It’s consistently filled with scenes where you’re not sure whether to take it seriously or laugh. Cult classic status is inevitable for the film.
When asked for his input on “Megalopolis,” Steven Soderbergh confessed telling Coppola, “how are you going to explain to people how to watch it? Because it’s just a different grammar.”
Soderbergh added: “When I was growing up, movies that got people talking about them were just as valuable as if they were monster hits. This, to me, is one of those.”
Coppola tells The Wall Street Journal that if the film fails at the box office, which is now an inevitability, there’s a contingency plan in place that could include a “very useful” tax write-down. “I’m very old so it all goes into an estate plan.”
Now it’s your turn to chime in on “Megalopolis.” What did you of Coppola’s polarizing epic?