This weekend’s release of Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS was the culmination of a long and arduous journey to the big screen. The film cost $120 million to produce, bankrolled by the legendary filmmaker himself. Coppola is said to have sold off a large chunk of his successful winery to come up with the funds.
After a disappointing third-place finish on its opening weekend, it’s clear that MEGALOPOLIS will go down as one of the epic financial flops in Hollywood history, and a clear sign of the tectonic changes that have shifted the industry since Coppola’s heyday.
This is not the first time that Coppola has used personal assets to pursue a passion project. He invested some of his funds to complete the production of APOCALYPSE NOW, the iconic 1979 war drama that was hailed as a generational statement. As measured in inflation-adjusted 2024 dollars, the budget for the movie came in at $145 million and it went on to earn $500 million at the box office. It benefitted further from record-breaking sales through home video and VOD.
However, there are several key distinctions between APOCALYPSE NOW and MEGALOPOLIS. First, the response to MEGALOPOLIS has not been very positive, with lowly Rotten Tomatoes scores of 49% from critics and 36% from audiences. By contrast, critics rated APOCALYPSE NOW at 91%, with audiences giving it an even higher 94% score.
In comparison to 1979 when theatrical runs had the potential to play out over time without having to compete with streaming, successful movies in 2024 are forced to burst out of the gate with strong ticket sales, with strong grassroots support built up in advance of their release.
After MEGALOPOLIS received a lukewarm response at its Cannes premiere, Coppola was forced to finance much of the cost of its marketing and distribution, leading to lower visibility and, ultimately, box office results.
