‘Megalopolis’ Bombs With D+ CinemaScore

Coppola’s $120 million passion project may not even clear $5 million in its domestic debut after receiving disastrous audience score and mixed to negative reviews.

Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero and Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina in Megalopolis. — Nathalie Emmanuel Adam Driver in Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis.’ Courtesy of Lionsgate

Transformers One, which hoped to get fanboys in addition to kids and parents, should steep 63 percent in its second outing to an estimated $9 million. That would put it in third place behind Wild Robot and Warner Bros’ hit Beetlejuice sequel.

Wild Robot is based on Peter Brown’s beloved bestseller about a robot nicknamed ROZ who forms an unexpected bond with an orphaned gosling and other creatures after being shipwrecked on a lonely island. Oscar nominee Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods) directed and wrote the movie, which tells a story of the bridge between nature and technology. The high-profile voice cast is led by Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy and Stephanie Hsu, alongside Mark Hamill, Matt Berry and Ving Rhames.

Megalopolis is looking at a sixth-place finish. As revered as Coppola is, no major Hollywood studio would sign on to finance or distribute the pricey $120 million film in North America after seeing the film at an early buyer’s screening before its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it drew mostly negative reviews.

Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza and Shia LaBeouf star in Coppola’s epic reimagining of the Roman Empire in modern-day New York City on the brink of ruin.

Lionsgate ultimately signed on to release the movie domestically but isn’t on the hook for distribution or marketing costs. Imax is also in Coppola’s corner after the director used Imax-certified cameras to shoot portions of the movie, with Megalopolis booked to play in roughly 200 Imax theaters, or about half the large-format’s circuit, during select showtimes.

Coppola has compared the film’s storyline to the current political situation in the U.S. before a screening of his new film at the New York Film Fest, suggesting that the 2024 presidential election may mirror the downfall of Rome. His comments were streamed into 65 cinemas across the U.S. and Canada with support from Imax.

If Coppola was hoping to rev up detractors of the Republican presidential nominee, it didn’t work.

Fans of Trump are seeing Vindicating Trump, the latest documentary from conservative pundit and Trump supporter Dinesh D’Souza, which examines the obstacles facing the GOP nominee in bid to reclaim the Oval Office.

D’Souza’s docu, made in cooperation with Trump, who has been personally plugging the film, is playing in 813 theaters domestically but may have trouble making much more than $820,000. Faith-based distributor SDG, home of the record-breaking mockumentary Am I Racist?, is handling Vindicating Trump in America. Highlights include D’Souza interviewing Trump after a would-be assassin’s bullet clipped Trump’s ear.

At the specialty box office, Sony is opening Jason Reitman‘s Saturday Night, a love letter to the long-running NBC sketch-comedy show Saturday Night Live, in five locations in New York and Los Angeles. The film is on course to a promising per-location average of $51,000.

Megalopolis: Coppola’s Self-Financed Epic Bombs at Box-Office, Slapped with D+ Audience Score

‘Megalopolis’ Bombs With D+ CinemaScore

PROFESSOR / CRITIC / AUTHOR