Budget: $120 million [source]
Opening weekend gross: $4 million
Factoring in marketing costs and the theaters taking their cut of the profits, Megalopolis would need to make at least $300 million to break even. I think it’s safe to say that’s not happening.
It would have been THE worst opening for a $100 million movie ever, had it not been for Pluto Nash’s horriffic opening 22 years ago.
Even The New York Times is reporting near-empty screenings of Megalopolis!
Why would anybody spend $300 million on a movie nowadays? If this isn’t Avatar or Deadpool, it’s not going to make it back.
It is crazy-making and it’s one of the reasons 2022 to 2024 had such enormous flops. They just don’t have any control over budgets at all, and apparently thought the era of superhero billion dollar box offices was never gonna end. I’m picking on capeshit unfairly because even the supposed auteur movies had way too big of a budget - and you don’t even see it on screen, the effects look so bad lol (unless it’s an Avatar, like you said)
Idk, bc he’s Francis Fordckin Coppola, it’s his money, he’s 800yo, & wanted to just do a giant crazy flight of fancy on his own terms on his way out?
I think for someone like that, it isn’t about the money, it’s about making your artistic vision happen, using the clout you built elsewhere to push through a project that was never financially viable but it’s your dream as a filmmaker.
Sometimes those stories end up becoming some of the biggest movies of all time, but often they just end up being a big waste of money except for the guy who gots to make his dream movie.