Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is set to be a box office flop as it’s revealed that it’s set to open to a disappointing $ 5-$7 million box office debut against a $120 million budget.
Coppola’s film Megalopolis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and was met with very mixed review
While some praised the film starring Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Laurence Fishburne, others felt that even the all-star cast could save it.
Metro.co.uk’s reporter Tori Brazier called it ‘the worst film she’s ever seen’ and added: ‘For me, the plot holes were too gaping and the message too muddled, in a movie that attempts to span medicine, engineering, history, sociology, politics and sci-fi, to name but a few small concepts.
‘Coppola’s passion project Megalopolis has been in the making since the 1980s – and unfortunately, it shows.’
The overwhelming negative reviews may have affected the film’s box office opening as it’s predicted to have an underwhelming debut and lose $115,00,000.
This is particularly devastating for Coppola, who directed The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, who self-funded the entire $120 million project.
The film is a Roman-inspired epic set in an imagined modern America. The plot focuses on genius architect Cesar Catalina (Driver) who seeks to build a utopian, idealistic future for New Rome.
Cesar while butts heads with arch-conservative mayor, Franklyn Cicero (Esposito). And adding another layer of conflict, Cicero’s socialite daughter Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel) divides her loyalties as she falls in love with Cesar.
Variety revealed that the opening weekend predictions were estimated between $5-$7 million (£3.74 million – £5.24 million).
To compare, other recent releases have made far more in their opening weekend.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice made $26 million on opening weekend with a budget of $100 million, Transformers One made $25 million with a budget of $75 million.
Speak No Evil made $5.8 million on opening weekend, but had a much smaller budget of just $15 million.
However, these predictions may still prove to be incorrect as it is set to be released in the US and UK this Friday, September 27.
Divisive reviews have left the film with a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with a critics consensus that reads: ‘More of a creative manifesto than a cogent narrative feature, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is an overstuffed opus that’s equal parts stimulating and slapdash.’
Megalopolis launches in cinemas on September 27.
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