Francis Ford Coppola‘s Megalopolis opened with a measly $4 million USD at the box office, debuting at No. 6 behind the Indian Telugu-language action film Devara: Part 1.
The Adam Driver-led film was unable to meet its initial opening weekend expectations of $5 million USD to $7 million USD, and instead fell short against its $120 million USD budget as it earned from 1,854 theaters in North America. Variety points out that the film, which was financed by Coppola himself, received mixed reviews and has been plagued with poor marketing tactics and AI-generated quotes from film critics. “The movie is an ambitious, personal vision. Sometimes a film like this beats the odds and makes a lot of money,” analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research said. “This one is not working. The result is going to be a big tax write-off.”
Megalopolis is set in a futuristic America and stars Driver as an architect who aims to rebuild the New Rome metropolis following a disaster. However, he is at odds with the city’s mayor, portrayed by Giancarlo Esposito, who launches a smear campaign against the architect.
