No wonder Coppola had to pay for Megalopolis with his own money
A 40-year passion project for the Apocalypse Now director, this Roman orgy of a film warns of end of days for America – but more likely just means the end of Francis Ford’s career.
It’s hard to recall a film being greeted with more perplexity than Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis. A production that has been 40 years in gestation, cost US$120 million ($174 million), and failed to attract support from the major studios, it’s like no movie ever made.
As the director is one of Hollywood’s all-time greats it seemed incredible that Coppola had to pay for it with his own money – but after sitting through 138 minutes of this exhausting, incoherent pageant, the whole thing felt more confusing than ever. What was Coppola thinking? Hell, what was he smoking?
