We had our first look at the film the other week in a clip, but now an official first trailer is out for filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s epic “Megalopolis”. The clip was released through Coppola’s own YouTube channel and comes ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the next few days. Coppola has credited the H.G. Wells-penned 1936 film “Things to Come” as his first inspiration for this $120 million-budgeted drama. In the film, the fate of Rome haunts a modern world unable to solve its own social problems in this story of a New York woman which is divided between loyalties to her father, who has a classical view of society, and her lover, who is more progressive and ready for the future. The cast includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Nathalie Emmanuel, Kathryn Hunter, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Schwartzman, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Chloe Fineman and James Remar. Coppola wrote the script and is himself financing the long-gestating project which has set multiple European distributors but has yet to lock various other territories. https://www.darkhorizons.com/first-trailer-coppolas-megalopolis/
This is one of those movies that looks like it will be interesting regardless of whether or not it is good. In those instances, I try to go into the movie as blind as possible. I read that article above and watched that trailer, but I'm gonna try and go dark on this from here on out and see what I think going in with almost no expectations.
I'm trying to figure out the marketing angle. Is he spicy because people didn't like the first trailer? Anyway, looks cool, maybe even see it in the theatre.
Wow. I'm not a famous filmmaker.... but at least I'm not butthurt over movie reviews from over fifty years ago. LOL.
Um, ok.... https://www.darkhorizons.com/megalopolis-trailer-pulled-over-fake-quotes/ The latest trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s epic “Megalopolis” arrived online this morning and now, less than twelve hours later, distributor Lionsgate is pulling the clip from release. The reason ties to the opening 30 seconds or so of the trailer which boasts a number of pull quotes from famous film critics like Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert and Rex Reed that make it appear as though they gave “The Godfather,” “Apocalypse Now” and “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” bad reviews. The point of their inclusion was to position the film as though it’s another work by Coppola that was misunderstood at release and ultimately will be recognised as a masterpiece. Indeed, the reviews for “Megalopolis” have been notably divisive so far. Turns out the quotes are fabricated as none of the phrases attributed to the critics are found in any of their reviews. As a result, they’re pulling it. Lionsgate says in a statement: “Lionsgate is immediately recalling our trailer for ‘Megalopolis’. We offer our sincere apologies to the critics involved and to Francis Ford Coppola and American Zoetrope for this inexcusable error in our vetting process. We screwed up. We are sorry.” One of those falsely quoted is long-time critic Owen Gleiberman who dubs Coppola’s “Dracula” adaptation a “beautiful mess” in the trailer. Gleiberman tells Variety: “Even if you’re one of those people who don’t like critics, we hardly deserve to have words put in our mouths. Then again, the trivial scandal of all this is that the whole ‘Megalopolis’ trailer is built on a false narrative. Critics loved ‘The Godfather.’ And though ‘Apocalypse Now’ was divisive, it received a lot of crucial critical support. As far as me calling ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ ‘a beautiful mess,’ I only wish I’d said that! Regarding that film, it now sounds kind.” One of the quotes has been found – Roger Ebert did indeed use the quote for “a triumph of style over substance” but not in relation to “Dracula” – rather it was for Tim Burton’s “Batman”. “Megalopolis” hits U.S. cinemas on September 27th.
So savage, LOL. I can't believe they thought they'd get away with manufacturing critical responses. Wow. Just think of how much fun the critics will have now.
Trailer quotes were generated by AI. Of course. https://www.theverge.com/2024/8/25/...tes-ai-generated-eddie-egan-dropped-lionsgate
Aubrey Plaza plays a platinum blonde reporter named Wow Platinum, while Cesar’s uncle Crassus (Jon Voight) hides weapons behind his erection. These moments are funny, but it’s not clear if they’re supposed to be given how serious the rest of the movie is. https://www.theverge.com/24243766/megalopolis-review
I should probably watch it in the theatres if only to support sci-fi or "Cinema" Francis Ford Coppola’s $120 Million-Budgeted ‘Megalopolis’ Could Open to Disappointing $5 Million https://variety.com/2024/film/box-o...polis-opening-weekend-projections-1236154490/ Francis Ford Coppola‘s sci-fi epic “Megalopolis,” the director’s self-funded passion project, is tracking to a disappointing $5 million to $7 million box office debut. The film, released by Lionsgate, is expected to play at 1,700 North American theaters in its opening weekend. A single-digit start would be underwhelming for a movie that cost above $100 million to produce. Coppola has a lot riding on “Megalopolis” because the 85-year-old “Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now” director ended up independently financing the film for $120 million. After its Cannes Film Festival premiere, Lionsgate agreed to release and market the movie in exchange for a distribution fee. “Megalopolis” is set in a futuristic America and follows an architect (Adam Driver) who clashes with the corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) in determining how to rebuild the metropolis of New Rome after a disaster. Reviews have been wildly divisive (it holds a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes), which could stoke interest in the film. Lionsgate tried to riff on the discord with a trailer that quoted well-known film critics who initially dismissed Coppola movies that went on to become classics. However, Vulture magazine first reported those quotes were fabricated or generated by AI, prompting Lionsgate to recall the spot. This weekend’s other new release, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” looks to take flight with $24 million to $30 million during its debut in 3,900 venues. Rivals and independent tracking firms believe that ticket sales can surpass $30 million, but others are being cautious after last weekend’s new release, the animated “Transformers One,” fell slightly short of expectations with $24.6 million to start.
I kind of thought this might be the case, a lot like with Kevin Costner's 'Horizon'. It seems like passion projects with these filmmakers tend to go off the rails due to their controlling nature and things get missed like good marketing and hype. They're a little in love with themselves and think their fanbases are much bigger and more rabid than they actually are. I've seen similar issues with projects I've worked on where the project sponsor couldn't get their hands out of the project and let the professionals do their work. Even more tangentially, I've seen doctor-led investment groups fail this way over and over again when they open hospitals and larger clinics because their egos are so large.
120M is a mid sized budget that is nowadays Streaming Quality. The bigger shops throw around budgets 2-4x the size. Anyone who hates or complains about the way movies are right now, Netflix/AMZN Garbage or "formulaic sequels", should consider the risk taken here. Then again the movie theater experience is like 20 bucks a pop now so movie goers wary.
Francis Ford Coppola Re-enters a Changed Hollywood. It Could Be Rough. Mr. Coppola has spent $120 million on his new movie, “Megalopolis.” Most box office analysts predict that he’ll get far less in return. link will work for everyone https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/...e_code=1.Nk4.cFpG.vNQEZN8lnn8F&smid=url-share
Aubrey Plaza’s character is a maniacal television reporter named Wow Platinum but [is also] known as Money Bunny.
