Megalopolis Fails Massively at Box Office

By August Tales

Two fresh flicks hit our screens this week. Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” starring Adam Driver is one. The second, an animated wonder dubbed “Wild Robot.” Despite the hype, moviegoers aren’t feeling the magic. The Thursday preview numbers paint a grim picture.

“Megalopolis”, reportedly costing over $120 million, scraped a meager $770k in its Thursday preview. Deja vu hits hard, echoing Kevin Costner’s self-funded “Horizon” that crashed with $800K in Thursday previews. It pulled in a disappointing $11M on opening night.

On the animation front, “Wild Robot” covering a $78M tab, fetched only $1.95M. We all remember “Transformers One” that flopped last week. It boasted a similar budget, a $3.4 million Thursday preview, and closed on a grim $24.6M.

A Glimmer of Hope for “Wild Robot”

Friday night brought some good news. According to Deadline, “Wild Robot” might strike an impressive $35M opening. That’s a sharp contrast to “Transformers One’s” debut. “Wild Robot” reportedly clocked $11.3M on Friday, compared to TO’s $9.5M. Good news for the creators, kids are giving thumbs up.

However, over at “Megalopolis,” it’s a different story. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes aren’t playing nice, striking it with a 50% score.

Great Reviews but Low Viewership: A Familiar Story

Just like “Transformers One”, “Wild Robot” boasts an enviable Rotten Tomatoes Score of 98%. But moviegoers are simply not turning up. Marketing, it seems, was the missing link. It was deja vu all over again. Paramount dropped the ball, like with Transformers One, failing to decide if it was a kids’ movie or a nod to die-hard franchise fans. The befuddling marketing left the audience unsure whether to expect a Toy Story kind of movie or a film akin to the original in tone and feel.

From a casual glance, “Wild Robot” echoes “Iron Giant” which also tanked in 1999. In an era where fans are streaming more, such animated films seem more fit for Netflix. Ditto for indie icon, “Megalopolis.”

Why “Megalopolis” Fell Flat

Why exactly did “Megalopolis” fall so flat? It’s hard to tell. The plot remains cloaked in mystery. Add a yanked trailer, a controversy about AI, and accusations against Coppola—no wonder it’s struggling. It’ll be interesting to gather fan reactions given the critics’ bias due to the controversy. However, early reports of word-of-mouth aren’t promising.

Yes, it’s a sorrowful “D+” from CinemaScore for “Megalopolis”. How about from you? Seen these movies in theaters lately? Jump into comments and share your thoughts!