In 2024, the legendary director Francis Ford Coppola returned with a film that he’s been trying to make for decades. Unfortunately, the result wasn’t anything like he expected, leading to a disastrous box office run.
Megalopolis, his longtime passion project, will be heading to digital streaming on Nov. 12, a bit over a month since its theatrical premiere, When to Stream reports. Lionsgate, who distributed the film, hasn’t officially confirmed the claims. However, the date is according to the usual release on VOD for all the big films, which hit digital streaming around 45 days after their theater premiere. The film, which boasted a big budget of $120 million, didn’t make a profit, and barely even got a chance to get the ground running. During its theater run, the dystopian movie managed to make only $12.5 million (via Box Office Mojo), a huge box office disappointment.
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Francis Ford Coppola self-financed and produced Megalopolis, his big passion project. The director has been behind many classics, including The Godfather trilogy, 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and 1979’s Apocalypse Now. Unfortunately, his longtime passion project didn’t reach the same legendary status as the rest of his films.
The summary for the movie reads, “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero (Nathalie Emmanuel), the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.”
Megalopolis stars a series of famous names, including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Talia Shire, Jason Schwartzman, Kathryn Hunter, Grace VanderWaal, Chloe Fineman, James Remar, D. B. Sweeney, and Dustin Hoffman. The film was rated R.
Megalopolis Didn’t Get the Reception It Expected
Ahead of the film’s premiere, director Francis Ford Coppola detailed how he took many risks with his new project. Megalopolis doesn’t follow the regular pattern of other films, with a protagonist, antagonist, and a plot twist. His sci-fi epic doesn’t fit into a single box and wanted to revolutionize cinematography with a new formula.
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“They are prescribing a formula that they’ll be able to sell over and over again,” the director noted about the cinematographic environment. “So when a movie comes along that doesn’t fit that formula and they don’t think it’s a new formula that can be repeated, they don’t want to do it because they feel there’s too much risk.”
The sci-fi movie debuted with a concerning “rotten” score on Rotten Tomatoes, which only decreased as more reviews came in. At the moment, Megalopolis has a score of 46% from the critics out of 281 reviews and a spilled popcorn of 35% from the audience. Aside from its reviews, the controversies and misconduct allegations from the set further drew the audience away. The director filed a lawsuit against Variety for libel after the publication reported his alleged “unprofessional” behavior.
Megalopolis will be available to purchase on digital starting Nov. 12.
Source: When to Stream
- Director
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Release Date
- September 27, 2024
- Cast
- Adam Driver , Forest Whitaker , Nathalie Emmanuel , Jon Voight , Laurence Fishburne , Aubrey Plaza , Shia LaBeouf , Jason Schwartzman , Grace VanderWaal , Kathryn Hunter , Talia Shire , Dustin Hoffman , D. B. Sweeney , Giancarlo Esposito
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
