Featured Image Credit: Lionsgate Movies
Topics: Film and TV, Shia LaBeouf, Entertainment, Money, Reddit
Britt Jones
Topics: Film and TV, Shia LaBeouf, Entertainment, Money, Reddit
Not every production is a hit with viewers, but this one film was such a failure that you’ve probably never even heard of it until now.
Sometimes, films just don’t work for their audience for one reason or another.
Maybe it was the the casting choice that was controversial, or the plot left viewers feeling lacklustre- whatever it is, films can and do flop on occasion.
This film had a fantastic star-studded cast, a brilliant director, a great budget and a vision like no other.
Advert
So, why did it go to sh*t?
As it turns out, a lot of people who saw it, wished they hadn’t bothered and now word is spreading.
This film in particular is the reigning champion of the cinematic failures of 2024, which is a shame as director, Francis Ford Coppola is known for his wondrous flicks such as The Godfather, and Apocalypse Now, both considered masterpieces.
His latest film Megalopolis, which is 46 per cent rated by Rotten Tomatoes’ audiences and a measly 36 per cent of critics, was a critical collapse.
The film, follows the life of Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver) who lives in a Roman settlement set in an imagined Modern America, just didn’t cut it for fans.
Its synopsis reads that ‘the City of New Rome must change, causing conflict between Cesar Catilina, a genius artist and the greedy mayor, Franklyn Cicero.’
It sounds interesting, but according to those who watched it…it was anything but.
Geeks of Color film reviewer, Timothy Lee called it: “A laughably pathetic, so-bad-it’s-good disaster comparable to that of Birdemic, The Room, Battleship, and the entire filmography of Neil Breen.”
Ouch?
The film, which cost the director $120 million (of his own money) to make, flopped at the box office, and made less than a dent in the three weeks it has been running in theatres.
With only pulling in $7.3 million, there was absolutely no profit back on it.
It had Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Grace VanderWall, Shia LaBeouf and Nathalie Emmanuel as its leading cast.
Redditors spoke about the film after a user claimed that it was the ‘worst film’ they had ever watched, and many agreed, while others thought it had charm.
Someone wrote: “Megalopolis is a mess, but I think it veers more towards the ‘so bad bad it's good’ side of things. Aubrey Plaza was great in it, though.
“She took a look at the script, saw her character's name was ‘Wow Platinum’, and knew what needed to be done.”
Another commenter penned: “Francis Ford should have cast Nic Cage in this one to a salvage it. I wouldn’t watch a bad movie on its own, but I’d watch one with Nic Cage in it.”
Someone else wrote: “Borderlands, megalopolis, and joker 2 are fighting to see who can lose their company the most money. All in the same year too.”
There were some who believed that the flick was ‘art’ and not made for ‘mass consumption’, as well as a few who advised on watching it buzzed to get the full experience.
One person shared that it would keep a viewer ‘grounded’ whilst watching the film.
Oh well. They can’t all be successes.