I like how at the very end when displaying the title it ads "A fable". Definitely hard to tell whats real/not real (if any of it is real lol). Looks interesting - I'd definitely watch it but probably not in a theater.

Has there been any movement on him finding a buyer?

Coppola has only sold to international markets so far. It's premiering at Cannes in a day or two, though, and depending on the reception I imagine he finally lands a domestic distributor relatively soon.

TCTTS said:

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Coppola has only sold to international markets so far. It's premiering at Cannes in a day or two, though, and depending on the reception I imagine he finally lands a domestic distributor relatively soon.

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I have seen some of the reports after distributors saw the film and some of them called it a total mess but could be because it's one of those films they don't know how to market. I can see where the movie initially flops but over time it gains on people and becomes some sort of cult classic. That's obviously with me just seeing the trailer and reading reports from those that have seen it.

Quote:

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one of those films they don't know how to market.

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I'd market it as, "Probably Francis Ford Coppola's last movie. And it's Weird Francis, not the guy who made Jack or The Rainmaker, or whatever those last couple things were."

But the trailer seriously makes me want to see it just to see what it is.

This weird Guardian article full of quotes from anonymous "sources" on the production complaining about him also made me want to see what the hell he ended up with:

Has this guy ever made a movie before?

40 something years in the making, supposedly.

I'm not quite sure how many distributors (or distributor reps) were at that now-infamous screening, and which distributors were in attendance is of course key too. For instance, have streamers like Apple and Amazon seen it yet, or A24, Neon, or any of the smaller, more indie distributors? I'm not sure. Either way, marketing concerns could be alleviated somewhat if Cannes audiences respond well over the next week or so, starting tonight (local/France time) with the world premiere. In other words, we should have a better idea in just a matter of hours...

Looks weird to me, but it's Coppola so I'm going to watch.

TCTTS said:

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I'm not quite sure how many distributors (or distributor reps) were at that now-infamous screening, and which distributors were in attendance is of course key too. For instance, have streamers like Apple and Amazon seen it yet, or A24, Neon, or any of the smaller, more indie distributors? I'm not sure. Either way, marketing concerns could be alleviated somewhat if Cannes audiences respond well over the next week or so, starting tonight (local/France time) with the world premiere. In other words, we should have a better idea in just a matter of hours...

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For the stakeholders in the film ,which in this case largely consists of Coppola himself since much of it was self funded, how does a deal with a streamer like Amazon or Netflix affect their potential profits? Does the streamer just negotiate a one time fee and then release it for a specified period? If Megalopolis cost $130 MM to produce I would be surprised if American Zoetrope could do more than break even with an Amazon or Apple TV deal. Don't they also say a film needs to do 2-3x the production cost to break even due to Marketing costs?

bonfarr said:

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TCTTS said:

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I'm not quite sure how many distributors (or distributor reps) were at that now-infamous screening, and which distributors were in attendance is of course key too. For instance, have streamers like Apple and Amazon seen it yet, or A24, Neon, or any of the smaller, more indie distributors? I'm not sure. Either way, marketing concerns could be alleviated somewhat if Cannes audiences respond well over the next week or so, starting tonight (local/France time) with the world premiere. In other words, we should have a better idea in just a matter of hours...

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For the stakeholders in the film ,which in this case largely consists of Coppola himself since much of it was self funded, how does a deal with a streamer like Amazon or Netflix affect their potential profits? Does the streamer just negotiate a one time fee and then release it for a specified period? If Megalopolis cost $130 MM to produce I would be surprised if American Zoetrope could do more than break even with an Amazon or Apple TV deal. Don't they also say a film needs to do 2-3x the production cost to break even due to Marketing costs?

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Always depends on the deal.

My business partner is a co-owner of Almost Never which funded an equity portion of Barbarian. Position wise, they were behind $X.XX in box office proceeds to be recycled for marketing money to expand their theatrical footprint before they could recoup.

Francis Ford Coppola‘s #Megalopolis just may have broken the internet — and the brains of more than a few critics at #Cannes. See first reactions: https://t.co/LkcTyOUqSJ pic.twitter.com/srE6TMbP01

— IndieWire (@IndieWire) May 16, 2024

It brings me no pleasure to say that Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is an utter mess. A stilted tone, some truly dreadful dialogue, and a creative aesthetic that is a hodge podge of decades-old VFX techniques result in an extremely muddled vision. Coppola is flailing (1)

— Gregory Ellwood - CANNES - The Playlist 🎬 (@TheGregoryE) May 16, 2024

MEGALOPOLIS: one of the most baffling and creative films ever made, incoherent yet truly exhilarating. Like a Syfy channel philosophical fable mixed with ‘90s soap opera antics, Roman history and old Hollywood glamour. There’s never been anything like it, I adored it #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/2wph1wrScp

— FilmLand Empire (@FilmLandEmpire) May 16, 2024

Megalopolis: the silliness is a feature, not a bug! a garish, epic, & utterly singular $120 million self-portrait that's also a fable about the fall of ancient Rome & a plea to save our civilization (and its cinema) from itself. big fan.

my #cannes review https://t.co/fA6Wy3kiJN pic.twitter.com/VWEQCmNjh4

— david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) May 16, 2024

MEGALOPOLIS: Review coming soon, but at the end of the movie, the scattered applause was only matched by the loud boos from the audience (crazy movie)

— Hoai-Tran Bui (@htranbui) May 16, 2024

Francis Ford Coppola’s MEGALOPOLIS is a chaotic, psychedelic fever dream that makes the stories from set undoubtable. I love seeing directors run with an idea but the result in this instance is a film so beyond comprehension that it cannot even begin to be unpacked. #Cannes2034 pic.twitter.com/OaLdJUjwCs

— Billie Melissa (@billiemelissa_) May 16, 2024

I will forever be glad that #Megalopolis exists, and the claim that it is “unreleasable” is fundamentally absurd, but goodness is that film a mess.

It feels, at times, like a Julie Taymor adaptation of a Shakespeare play that nobody but Frances Ford Coppola has ever heard of. pic.twitter.com/vRDGmPsvbU

— Darren Mooney (@Darren_Mooney) May 16, 2024

MEGALOPOLIS: Fiasco Ford Coppola pic.twitter.com/ZkGbvdqhuG

— Kyle Buchanan (@kylebuchanan) May 16, 2024

Francis Ford Coppola's passion project MEGALOPOLIS is a lot of movie, much of it quite bad. But you have to respect the staggering ambition of this epic folly, a mashup of the Roman Empire with modern day New York in chaos. My @THR review from #cannes2024 https://t.co/u4pIw8ohtz

— David Rooney (@DavidCRooney1) May 16, 2024

MEGALOPOLIS is a folly of such gargantuan proportions it's like observing the actual fall of Rome. Had a great time with it, in an extremely haha-yes-sickos-meme kind of way.

— Jessica Kiang (@jessicakiang) May 16, 2024

MEGALOPOLIS is truly insufferable on so many levels. You can tell that this has been forty years in the making and not in a good way by any means. Far past its sell by date right out of the gate. Aubrey Plaza is unsurprisingly the only redeeming quality #Cannes2024 pic.twitter.com/OiE9ox1xYQ

— yasmine | ياسمين (@filmwithyas) May 16, 2024

LMAOOO. I’m sure they have a plan but what happens when that sequence plays in theatres? https://t.co/ofZy2Fsmpz

— azhar 𐚁 (@mcstardently) May 16, 2024

Robbie Collin has described MEGALOPOLIS as SUCCESSION crossed with BATMAN FOREVER and a lava lamp and that’s hilarious and also so true! #Cannes2024

— FilmLand Empire (@FilmLandEmpire) May 16, 2024

Someone just described Megalopolis as a $120 million version of The Room

— Alex Ritman (@alexritman) May 16, 2024

These kind of reviews make it seem like this is the kind of movie that was made for the internet era to be a meme worthy viral spectacle of epic failure. If marketed correctly, as a movie where the audience gets to wink and be in on the joke, this could be a spectacular cult classic and mint money.

Looks like it'll be a clunky disjointed mess. Will probably catch it at Alamo

Reviews

most are not impressed

but I think I will see it due to Driver and Jon Voigt and Talia Shire