Recently, while Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis received criticism from audiences and critics alike, a few filmmaking peers had given their impressions of the film with some high praise. Guillermo Del Toro glowed about the Coppola passion project when he said, “Francis is still the same bold, fearless, inventive filmmaker that he was in his 20’s. I was Swept by Megalopolis!” And Steven Soderbergh, who has the horror film, Presence, coming out, reacted, “WOW! This might be the craziest thing ever shot on American soil. Certainly, one of the most sustained acts of pure imagination I’ve ever seen. I dreamt about it all night—it was inspiring!”

Now that Joker: Folie à Deux has been released, and to its own underwhelming response, one filmmaker that has come to its defense is Coppola. The Megalopolis director, who has been outspoken about the Marvel films, took to his official Instagram account to show his support for the Todd Phillips sequel. He posted a picture of Joker‘s poster with the caption, “@ToddPhillips films always amaze me and I enjoy them thoroughly. Ever since the wonderful The Hangover he’s always one step ahead of the audience never doing what they expect. Congratulations to Joker: Folie à Deux! I am also honored that the films DP, Lawrence Sher, mentioned that the film is visually inspired by One From the Heart.”

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Despite being a sequel to a movie that made a billion dollars worldwide, Joker: Folie à Deux has posted a truly disastrous opening. According to Deadline, the film didn’t even crack $40 million this weekend, with them estimating a dismal $39 million finish.  It seems fans didn’t go for Todd Phillips’s rather ambitious idea to make this a musical, with it peppered with fantasy musical sequences in between some rather dull courtroom melodrama. The star pairing of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga wasn’t enough to win over fanboys or general audiences, who slammed it with an almost unheard of (for a comic book movie) D CinemaScore rating.

In his review for Joker: Folie à Deux, JoBlo’s Chris Bumbray stated, “As such, the audience who cosplayed Joker and Harley Quinn at the screening I attended couldn’t help but look a little dejected as the credits rolled. The film lacked the same kind of impact the original movie had despite a longer, bloated running time and a much heftier budget.”

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Imaginary. Borderlands. The Crow. Megalopolis. 2024 has been a colossally bad year for Lionsgate Films. Whether it’s critical ratings or box office take, there’s not a lot to be optimistic about if you’re a fan or shareholder. This is too bad as Lionsgate has always been the studio I’ve always rooted for. As distributors of the Saw, John Wick, and Rambo they’ve always had an edge to them, giving smaller films a chance to reach larger audiences. And franchises like Twilight (purchased from Summit), Divergent, and Hunger Games showed their ability to make/acquire broadly appealing films. Then they’ve even gotten into the Oscar space with releases like La La Land, Knives Out, and Sicario. But it’s getting to the point where I groan every time the Lionsgate logo comes up as it’s no longer a sign of quality or fun.

It’s hard not to blame Lionsgate at least a little bit for this. Borderlands, The Crow, and Megalopolis were largely considered to be bad ideas from the start. Another adaptation of the graphic novel which hasn’t had a good film since the original? A film based on a video game completely miscast and coming from a horror director? And finally, a passion project from a once great filmmaker who hasn’t made a good movie in 32 years? Each of these was a clear failure and largely made fun of when announced. So the fact that they threw so much cash at them is baffling. The Crow was always going to be a tough sell, and to be sure, Lionsgate is only the distributor, not the producer (same with Megalopolis). But it still begs the question as to why they would acquire a film with such a low upside. Another head-scratcher is the release of White Bird this weekend, which is a prequel/sequel to their 2017 hit Wonder. That movie sat on the shelf for a few years (despite perfectly respectable reviews), but was released in a very low-key way for a film related to one of their biggest word-of-mouth hits.

While Lionsgate is not a major studio, they are still considered a mini-major where they mostly focus on foreign and independent films. Much like the Saw franchise which was made for cheap but made a boatload of cash for the studio, Lionsgate was able to make massive profit off of it. Yet even their low-budget fare has been uninspiring. Damaged, Miller’s Girl, Arthur the King, and The Duel prove we’re far removed from the days of high-quality acquisitions. Hell, the one time they had a great indie horror film in Cobweb, they decided to release it to damn near zero promotion on the same day as Barbenheimer.

We also need to discuss their strange release strategy. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, Arthur the King, and The Killer’s Game only came out in the United States (skipping Canada entirely) and resulted in a tepid box office. While I enjoyed Ungentlemanly Warfare, releasing in this way says to audiences that the films aren’t worth an entire release/marketing strategy. Sure, it costs a lot of money to market a film, but why even make/acquire the film in the first place if you’re not even going to give it a chance to fully optimize its chances to profit?

I know I’m pretty much the only person on the planet who enjoyed the ridiculousness of The Strangers: Chapter 1 but it’s clear based on others’ reactions, that its sequels have a tough hill to climb. While the first film did well, that could likely be attributed to fans of the original wanting to check it out. But after the terrible word of mouth, it’s going to be a lot more difficult to get people in seats. This is likely why we haven’t seen anything from Chapter 2 despite Chapter 1 releasing back in May. Not even a trailer. And with the trilogy filming back to back, you have to figure the sequels are near completion, editing-wise. So will the trilogy complete its story in theaters, or will it be relegated to streaming services for the rest of its run? The more Lionsgate needs a win, it seems the less likely it is to happen.

As far as big releases to save the year, Lionsgate doesn’t have much of anything left. With a small Cillian Murphy drama and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, the chances of recovering their losses don’t seem great. But 2025 should be a little better with the return of the Saw franchise with XI, the John Wick spinoff Ballerina, and the popular magic series Now You See Me 3. But then again, they are producing a Dirty Dancing sequel so I’m not sure if they’ve learned their lesson yet. Especially with the rumors that much of Ballerina had to be reshot, as the original cut was such a mess. Whatever happens, Lionsgate is in need of some major changes going forward as the studio has become a shell of its former self. Hopefully, they take inspiration from other mini-majors like A24 and start focusing on quality and creativity. But who knows, maybe some Lionsgate exec just got a great idea for The Crow 2. *shudders*

What do you think? Will Lionsgate ever recover? What is the solution? Let us know in the comments below!

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Megalopolis has been in theaters for a week and although it hasn’t shown a strong performance at the box office, Francis Ford Coppola is still ready to engage with the film’s audience (or anyone really) in a discussion over the movie and what it means to the art of cinema. Coppola’s ambitious passion project has been divisive from the start and the Godfather filmmaker is seemingly basking in that reaction in hopes that it challenges the viewers. However, his directing peers have glowed about the film in some recent reactions, including Guillermo Del Toro stating, “Francis is still the same bold, fearless, inventive filmmaker that he was in his 20’s. I was Swept by Megalopolis!” and Steven Soderbergh exclaiming, “WOW! This might be the craziest thing ever shot on American soil. Certainly, one of the most sustained acts of pure imagination I’ve ever seen. I dreamt about it all night—it was inspiring!”

Coppola has now taken to his social media to open up a forum of spirited discussion on the film and art as a whole. He posted, “This is Francis Ford Coppola.  It should be reiterated that the core purpose of #MEGALOPOLIS was to spark a conversation and advance the art of cinema. Over the last 7 days I have been overjoyed by many kind words, realizations, and humble understandings of this piece of art.  To celebrate the spirit of DEBATE in the film, I invite you to ask a question in the replies so that we may have a conversation – I’ll be responding tomorrow 10am PT / 1pm ET.”

Much like Adam Driver’s character, Caesar, in the film, Coppola is willing to explain his philosophical intent with the film and what he hopes it does with cinema in general. Granted, with the movie leaving viewers divided, it’s natural there could be a bevy of critics and trolls as he opens up communication. However, Coppola has shown in the past that he doesn’t walk on eggshells around topics, so it will be interesting what he chooses to address and how bold he feels about addressing it.

Our EIC, Chris Bumbray, kept an open mind and the film still couldn’t resonate with him as he hoped, saying in his review, “In the last forty minutes, Megalopolis becomes a real disaster, with so much jam-packed into the movie’s third act that it becomes almost impossible to keep up with it. It becomes nonsensical as it races towards its ending. Again, one can’t fault Coppola for his ambition. He financed the movie with money he earned, so he had every right to make exactly the film he wanted to make. But it’s hard to imagine this ever connecting with anyone other than hardcore Coppola devotees or maybe connoisseurs of bad cinema.”

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Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis collected divisive reactions as soon as it premiered on the festival circuit. Many were already giving their impressions about how his ambition and passion couldn’t quite land in the execution of his vision. It even became a marketing point early on as the studio tried to get ahead of the bad word-of-mouth by giving the perspective that the film is already ahead of its time. However, that marketing ploy would then suffer its own controversy when it was revealed that the critic quotes that were used in the trailer (in order to show how his past regarded works were subject of their own scrutiny) were actually manifested. The film is now out and has had a disastrous showing at the box office and while one review gave it a perfect rating of five-stars, it comes from Coppola himself. ScreenRant now reports on the reactions of the film from other notable directors.

Spike Lee stated, “My brother continues to amaze me and his fearlessness, like he’s going to do what he has to do to get it done. Bottom line.” Spike Jonze would react by saying, “I’m still smiling from it. Radical. I’ve never seen anything like it. I remember hearing about it but never could have imagined what it came to be. There was so much I loved about it, but the tone was the thing that got most under my skin. It was funny and alive and electric and made the world and ideas so vivid. The performances Francis created with the actors and the details of the world… I laughed out loud the whole time. The play and surrealism and joy of creating. It’s incredible that he’s been thinking and working on it as long as he has but it still felt of today, about now and the world we are both in and careening towards.”

Guillermo Del Toro glowed about the film and said, “Francis is still the same bold, fearless, inventive filmmaker that he was in his 20’s. I was Swept by Megalopolis!” And finally, Steven Soderbergh reacted, “WOW! This might be the craziest thing ever shot on American soil. Certainly, one of the most sustained acts of pure imagination I’ve ever seen. I dreamt about it all night—it was inspiring!”

Our EIC, Chris Bumbray, kept an open mind and the film still couldn’t resonate with him as he hoped, saying in his review, “In the last forty minutes, Megalopolis becomes a real disaster, with so much jam-packed into the movie’s third act that it becomes almost impossible to keep up with it. It becomes nonsensical as it races towards its ending. Again, one can’t fault Coppola for his ambition. He financed the movie with money he earned, so he had every right to make exactly the film he wanted to make. But it’s hard to imagine this ever connecting with anyone other than hardcore Coppola devotees or maybe connoisseurs of bad cinema.”

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One of the most controversial movies of the year is certainly Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. Not only did Coppola spend decades putting together his futuristic fable, but he also sunk a chunk of his personal fortune into the $100 million-plus epic, only to have it met with jeers from many (but not all) critics following its screenings at Cannes, TIFF and more.

To be sure, this isn’t even close to the first time Coppola’s flirted with disaster as a filmmaker. While The Godfather 1 & 2, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now are rightly regarded as all-timers, Coppola had a massive flop with One from the Heart, a movie that plunged him into bankruptcy, as well as The Cotton Club (which I kinda like), Tucker, Jack, Twixt, and more than a few others. 

Over on Rotten Tomatoes, Megalopolis has split critics right down the middle, earning a 50% Tomato-meter score, while the audience score has yet to be tallied. If you look at the audience reviews, they range from utter amazement at what Coppola was able to accomplish (and his guts as a filmmaker) to complete and utter befuddlement at what they saw.

With that in mind, we want to get in on the fun here at JoBlo, so it’s your turn – dear readers – to weigh in on what you think about Francis Ford Coppola’s epic. To note, these debates tend to be SPOILER HEAVY, so if you haven’t seen the movie yet, I urge you to bookmark and return to this page AFTER you see the movie. 

Still with us? In the comments, I want to hear what you thought of the movie itself, the CGI, performances, the oddball live theater component, Jon Voight with a bow-and-arrow (you’ll get it when you see the movie), and more. Have at it!

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In this weekend’s box office preview, I was pretty conservative in my guesses as far as what the weekend grosses will be for the two big new releases, The Wild Robot and Megalopolis. I actually figured The Wild Robot would only open in the teens and be beaten by Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, but it seems my estimates might have been off as Deadline is reporting that the animated movie made a decent $1.95 million yesterday. That’s not a massive number, but it’s in line with what other animated movies like Trolls Band Together and The Bad Guys made, which suggests The Wild Robot should have no trouble opening in the $20-25 million range. Last week, Transformers One made about $3 million in previews on its way to a $24 million opening, but many believe the preview night number was front-loaded due to older fans.

In other news, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis posted $770k in preview revenue, which isn’t bad for an adult-skewing arthouse title. While there’s no way Coppola’s $100 million plus passion project opens north of $5 million, that preview number proves some faithful Coppola fans are willing to give it a show. It had special Monday evening screenings that largely sold out, and if you happen to see it on a premium screen, you might even be treated to a live theater component, which we explain here.

As usual, we’ll be updating the numbers as they come in, so stay tuned to find out whether the well-reviewed Wild Robot is able to take the box office crown from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in week four. 

What are you going to see this weekend? Make sure to let us know in the comments. While I didn’t care for Megalopolis, I still think it’s worth seeing just for how audacious it is. 

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As ambitious as Megalopolis is, one factor that Francis Ford Coppola wanted to push even further was the fact that he included a scene that featured a “live theater” component in which a person from the audience would stand in front of the screen and briefly interact with Adam Driver‘s character on screen. Coppola instituted this unique fourth wall-break at the Cannes screenings and certain IMAX presentations have also played out the scene with a microphone set up at the foot of the screen and the picture shrinking to a size so that Driver’s character can make somewhat eye contact with the person in the theater.

Obviously, it would be a monumental task for every single theater screening to incorporate a plant in the audience to bring this moment to life, but IndieWire reports that over 20 markets in North America will feature this live participant component to the film. The scene in question is largely inconsequential to the rest of the film, except for Coppola’s philosophical writing that he may still have wanted the viewers exposed to. However, instead of simply cutting out the scene, the picture shrinks as intended, but the interaction comes from an actor off-screen.

In the screenings that will feature the live actor, the screening may be labeled “The Ultimate Experience” when you’re buying your tickets, and each of those showings will feature what Lionsgate is calling a “Live Participant” as part of the movie. It is being assumed that this will mostly take place on IMAX or PLF screens. However, it is also said that there are a handful of the live experiences that will also be available on standard screens.

As unique and strange as this hook is, it’s not even the most experimentally ambitious that Coppola has gotten. For 2011’s Twixt, which was a horror mystery starring Elle Fanning and Val Kilmer, Coppola intended to do a 30-city tour of that film in which he would “live edit” the movie so that it would play differently to each audience it’s screening for. With that concept, “they have a great deal of footage which adds up to a movie called Twixt, but depending upon where and when you see the presentation, you might see a totally different telling of the story than others.”

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The time has come for Francis Ford Coppola’s newest epic to hit screens. The early receptions for Megalopolis have been divided, with even our own EIC, Chris Bumbray, finding himself on the negative side of the reactions, stating in his review, “Indeed, I despise the fact that Megalopolis turned out to be such an unwieldy mess, as the last thing I wanted to do at this year’s TIFF was join the choir of Coppola haters – of which I’ll never be one, even if I didn’t like his movie.” Meanwhile, the most positive review may have come from Coppola himself as the director joined Letterboxd and gave Megalopolis five stars. Inversely, the new animated film, The Wild Robot, has been given an immensely positive response as it currently sits at 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. Both films will be hitting theaters this weekend and The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at the projections for the week’s new releases. Coppola’s passion project was a self-financed venture that had a price tag of $120 million before marketing. Unfortunately, the ambitious film is only projected to make $5 million to $7 million.

Meanwhile, the new Dreamworks animated feature The Wild Robot has both early buzz and the appeal of being a heartfelt family film that can be comparable to Inside Out 2‘s big business from this summer. It’s being predicted that the movie wins the weekend above past releases, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Transformers One, in the “$24 million range domestically, although more bullish forecasters believe it could easily fly past $30 million.” However, experts also kept in mind that Transformers One made $5 million less than projected after the film had the benefit of good word-of-mouth and action appeal as well as being a part of a popular IP.

While Coppola’s film explores the conflicts and politics of rebuilding a society, a film that aims to capitalize on election season is a new documentary from filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza about Donald Trump’s current bid to win the upcoming U.S. Presidential election. The film Vindicating Trump will be opening in 500 to 700 screens across the nation. The film was made in cooperation with Trump, who has been personally plugging the film, and comes from Faith-based distributor SDG, which recently put out the documentary Am I Racist?

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PLOT: In a futuristic metropolis named New Rome, the city’s mayor, Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito), battles an idealistic architect named Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), who wants to create a sustainable utopia.

REVIEW: One of the most unique things about Francis Ford Coppola as a director is the fact that he’s probably the only one I can think of who’s made at least four outright masterpieces and probably an equal number of disasters. For every Godfather, there’s a One from the Heart, but Coppola, to his credit, has never allowed critics or audiences to dictate the movies he makes, and for better or worse, this is exactly the film he wanted. Whether or not anyone else will understand or appreciate what he’s doing is another question. I must admit that even though I can find merit in almost all of his work, Megalopolis escaped me.

An ambitious futuristic “fable” (which is what it’s called on-screen), the film imagines a kind of uncanny, futuristic New York City crossed with the politics and intrigue of Ancient Rome. New Rome seems to exist outside of the laws of gravity, with Adam Driver’s Cesar able to stop time at will and seeking to create a utopian society within the city. This seems equally inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and what Coppola himself tried to pull off with his production company, American Zoetrope, in the seventies and early eighties. 

Watching Megalopolis, it wasn’t hard to see the thematic parallels between Driver’s Cesar and Coppola, especially if you know his work. People condemn Cesar for his ego and the scope of his vision, which happened to Coppola numerous times over his career (including now), with him risking disaster almost every time he made a movie.

Indeed, I despise the fact that Megalopolis turned out to be such an unwieldy mess, as the last thing I wanted to do at this year’s TIFF was join the choir of Coppola haters – of which I’ll never be one, even if I didn’t like his movie.

Megalopolis is ambitious, but it’s exhausting and almost incomprehensible. It feels like a six-hour movie Coppola cut down to 138 minutes, with characters, such as Dustin Hoffman as the mayor’s fixer, getting oddly unceremonious exits and noted character actors like James Remar stuck in walk-ons.

The first half of Megalopolis is better than the second, as for a while, you get caught up in the movie’s scope, with Coppola creating a beautifully stylized world. He invested a good chunk of his fortune in it, and he and DP Mihai Mălaimare Jr. have created a visual feast, especially on IMAX. However, the film’s content is nearly incomprehensible, drowning in metaphors, montages, and camp performances that are embarrassing for those involved. Jon Voight, in particular, as the man bankrolling Cesar’s vision, gets some howlers, particularly an unfortunate scene with a bow-and-arrow. The same goes for Nathalie Emmanuel, who seems bewildered by her strange role as the mayor’s daughter who falls in love with Cesar (and at one point masquerades as a sixth-grader). Ditto for Giancarlo Esposito, who attempts to underplay his highly melodramatic role, but again, I hesitate to blame either of them. 

Adam Driver at least has the gravitas to play his iconoclastic role. Still, he’s a lot more convincing when he’s playing Cesar as a genius than lengthy bits where we’re expected to believe he’s also a drug-addled playboy. Of everyone, the two actors who fare the best are Shia LaBeouf and Aubrey Plaza. They play the two most over-the-top characters and seem to have a whale of a time. LaBeouf plays Cesar’s cousin, a socialite who lusts for Emmanuel’s Julia and control over the city. Plaza is a TV presenter (named Wow Platinum) who is scorned by Driver and wants revenge. Both seem to know what kind of movie they’re in, and I can imagine Coppola cackling with glee and screaming “more” and “more” whenever they start getting really crazy on camera.

As this is still a Coppola movie, there are some impressively mounted set pieces, such as a sprawling one at New Rome’s version of Madison Square Garden, where a Taylor Swift-style pop star (played by Grace VanderWaal) auctions her virginity. Many Coppola regulars show up, including Laurence Fishburne, Cesar’s chauffeur, who also narrates the movie, plus Talia Shire and even Jason Schwartzman. There’s even a live theatre component where, at the screening I attended, an actor shows up in the theatre to interact with Driver’s character on-screen. 

In the last forty minutes, Megalopolis becomes a real disaster, with so much jam-packed into the movie’s third act that it becomes almost impossible to keep up with it. It becomes nonsensical as it races towards its ending. Again, one can’t fault Coppola for his ambition. He financed the movie with money he earned, so he had every right to make exactly the film he wanted to make. But it’s hard to imagine this ever connecting with anyone other than hardcore Coppola devotees or maybe connoisseurs of bad cinema. 

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Earlier this summer, Megalopolis director Francis Ford Coppola joined Letterboxd, the social cataloguing service where members can rate and review films and keep track of what they’ve watched. He hasn’t been too active on the service, but he has given Megalopolis a perfect five-star score. The divisive film has been receiving mixed reviews from critics and audiences, with the average Letterboxd score sitting at 2.9. Coppola also gave five stars to The Last Showgirl, a film directed by his granddaughter Gia Coppola.

Despite the mixed reviews, Megalopolis is clearly a project Coppola is passionate about. He spent decades developing the movie and even put up $120 million of his own money. While it’s a shame the movie wasn’t the universally acclaimed masterpiece that many were hoping it would be, folks can’t seem to stop talking about it. In my book, an interesting failure is more alluring than another two hours of forgettable mediocrity.

Our own Chris Bumbray caught Megalopolis at TIFF, and unfortunately, he wasn’t a fan. “In the last forty minutes, Megalopolis becomes a real disaster, with so much jam-packed into the movie’s third act that it becomes almost impossible to keep up with it,” Bumbray wrote. “It becomes nonsensical as it races towards its ending. Again, one can’t fault Coppola for his ambition. He financed the movie with money he earned, so he had every right to make exactly the film he wanted to make. But it’s hard to imagine this ever connecting with anyone other than hardcore Coppola devotees or maybe connoisseurs of bad cinema.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

The official synopsis for Megalopolis reads: “Megalopolis is a Roman Epic fable set in an imagined Modern America. The City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist who seeks to leap into a utopian, idealistic future, and his opposition, Mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo, perpetuating greed, special interests, and partisan warfare. Torn between them is socialite Julia Cicero, the mayor’s daughter, whose love for Cesar has divided her loyalties, forcing her to discover what she truly believes humanity deserves.” The film is currently slated to hit theaters on September 27th. I’m looking forward to finally getting to check the film out for myself.

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