Francis Ford Coppola is no stranger to winning most things in Hollywood, from awards to acclaim. He was best known for directing The Godfather trilogy, with The Godfather 2 considered the pinnacle of his success. And while he’s not done making movies yet with his most recent being Megalopolis, the filmmaker has seen better days. Megalopolis is on track to flop badly at the box office with an opening earning of $5-7 million.
That wouldn’t have been as bad were it not for the fact that Francis Ford Coppola self-financed Megalopolis with a $120 million budget.
Lionsgate is distributing Megalopolis, which will be shown in 1,700 theaters in North America. It’s worth noting that Megalopolis’ $5-7 million opening weekend earnings are just a projection for now. However, hope remains sparse if predictions are dismal for the film.
As a general rule of thumb, most commercial movies need to earn close to thrice their budget for them to be considered past the point of breaking even.
For those who aren’t aware, Megalopolis is an underdog sci-fi tale about an architect, played by Adam Driver, who fights with a corrupt mayor, played by Giancarlo Esposito, in rebuilding their fictional city of New Rome. Advanced screenings have already been held for critics, and Megalopolis, at best, has seen a polarized critical reception. It currently holds a 50% Rotten Tomatoes score.
Reviews aren’t Too Good Either
Our very own review of Megalopolis doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of the movie. For reference, The Wild Robot is another film releasing this weekend in North American theaters. Additionally, its box office predictions are much more generous at $24-30 million, and the film’s production cost was $78 million.
Coupled with the fact that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is still showing this upcoming weekend in some theaters, predictions for Megalopolis‘ feeble earnings might just hold merit. For all we know, Megalopolis might just become Francis Ford Coppola’s last film especially if it flops.
