Francis Ford Coppola Unfazed by Negative Reviews for ‘Megalopolis’: “I’m Told It Went Over Very Well”

The world premiere reviews of Francis Ford Coppola‘s ‘Megalopolis‘ hadn’t affected the ‘The Godfather‘ director.

Following its Cannes 2024 premiere, ‘Megalopolis,’ directed by Ford Coppola and decades in the making, received some negative reviews from critics. However, Ford Coppola has chosen not to read any of them.

In a recent interview with The Wrap, Ford Coppola was asked about the negative talk surrounding the film from reviewers. He responded, “Well, I didn’t find that. Is that what a lot of the reviews are saying? I haven’t read that. I’ve read a lot of good reviews, but maybe they’re not showing me the bad reviews.” He added, “What the hell is that?” is very expectable. It’s like, what if you go to eat at McDonald’s and you get frog legs? Frog legs might be good, but you are not expecting that. All I know is I came here, I showed the picture and I’m told it went over very well. Or maybe it didn’t, I dunno. But that’s what they told me.”

During the press conference at Cannes, Ford Coppola stated he has no regrets about spending $120 million of his own money to finance ‘Megalopolis.’ He said, “There are so many people who, when they die, say ‘I wish I had done that.’ When I die, I’ll say, ‘I got to do that.’”

The film follows the destruction of a metropolis which brings clashing visions of the future. An architectural idealist (Adam Driver) and the Mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) debate on whether to embrace the future & build a utopia or take a business-as-usual rebuild strategy, replete with corruption and power brokering. In between their struggle is the mayor’s socialite daughter Julia (Nathalie Emmanuel), a restless young woman who grew up around power and is looking for meaning in her life. (Watch the trailer)

The film is written and directed by Ford Coppola, who also serves as a producer alongside Michael Bederman. The film is being praised as Ford Coppola’s ‘best film yet.’ Developed over 40 years, Coppola has invested $120M of his own money into the project.

The film stars Driver as Caesar, Forest Whitaker, Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire, Grace VanderWaal, Kathryn Hunter, James Remar, Chloe Fineman, Madeleine Gardella, and Isabelle Kusman.

The theater release date for ‘Megalopolis’ is to be announced.