Acclaimed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola says he doesn’t «want anyone to own» Megalopolis while it’s still in theaters.
Per Deadline, Coppola noted that the reason Megalopolis has yet to be released via streaming platforms or physical media is «because the film is still being shown in theaters. I don’t want anyone to own it.» Coppola continued, «After the election, people are selling out screenings of Megalopolis—the way it was intended to be seen.«
«Being that it was so prophetic or prescient to say America is like Rome—it’s going to maybe lose its republic—now people are rushing to see it in theaters,» Coppola explained. «We sold out three screenings in Boston recently, in Detroit, and people are really lining up. It’s just like what happened with Apocalypse Now. Apocalypse Now was a big flop, it got terrible reviews, everyone said it was the worst movie ever made. And yet people never stopped going to see it. The same thing is now happening with Megalopolis.”
Megalopolis Had a $120 Million Budget
Likely the most ambitious film in modern history, Megalopolis was brought to life after years of development and more than $120 million of Coppola’s own money financing the project. Megalopolis‘ ensemble cast is led by Adam Driver in the role of Cesar Catalina, a retro-futurist architect and Chairman of the Design Authority of New Rome who wields the uncanny ability to stop time altogether. The film also features appearances from Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf, Giancarlo Esposito, Jon Voight, and Chloe Fineman. In spite of its star-studded cast and astonishing scope, Megalopolis failed to make any major impact at the box office, bringing in less than $15 million while being met with largely middling reviews from critics.
While Megalopolis was a dud at the box office, it is getting the chance to find new life in the form of Abrams ComicArts’ upcoming title — Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel, written by Chris Ryall and illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Jacob Phillips. Coppola himself previously pointed out that the graphic novel is not necessarily limited by the film even if it is inspired by Megalopolis. Coppola also said that he «hoped the graphic novel would take its own flight, with its own artists and writer so that it would be a sibling of the film, rather than just an echo.»
