Decades in the making, Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed epic Megalopolis flopped, while critically acclaimed DreamWorks Animation family film The Wild Robot rose to No. 1 at the weekend box office.
The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s bestseller, exceeded expectations at launch with $35 million in ticket sales at theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The DreamWorks film was expected to do well after critics raved about the story of a castaway who raises an orphaned chick. Audiences agreed, giving the film an ‘A’ CinemaScore. “Wild Robot” will likely have a long and lucrative run for its distributor Universal Pictures.
Paul Degarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, predicts that The Wild Robot “could take a page out of the Elemental playbook by opening to respectable box office and then looking at long-term playability.”
Pixar’s “Elemental,” which like “The Wild Robot” was not a sequel, debuted with a modest $30 million but grossed nearly $500 million worldwide.
Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel are shown in a still from Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic Megalopolis that flopped at the weekend box office
Family films, led by the year’s biggest hit in ‘Inside Out 2’, have mainly driven the box office this year. David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment, said the genre should reach $6 billion worldwide by 2024 — which, he noted, is “back to pre-pandemic levels.”
“Megalopolis,” Coppola’s take on a Roman epic set in contemporary New York, was never expected to perform anywhere near that level. But the film’s $4 million debut was still sobering for a film that Coppola himself financed for $120 million and even sold a stake in his California vineyard. After its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, critics were mixed about Coppola’s first film in thirteen years. Audiences gave it a ‘D+’ CinemaScore.
Anyway, Megalopolis was a mega flop. But from the start, Coppola, 85, insisted that money was not his concern. Coppola fashioned the film, which he first began developing in the late 1970s, as a grand personal statement about human possibilities.
“Everyone is so worried about money,” Coppola told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the film’s release. “I say: give me less money and give me more friends.”
Studios passed on ‘Megalopolis’ after Cannes. Lionsgate eventually stepped forward to distribute it for a fee. Coppola also covered most of his $15 million in marketing costs. The film, starring Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel and Aubrey Plaza, also played at approximately 200 IMAX locations, accounting for $1.8 million in ticket sales.
After three weeks at the top of the box office, Tim Burton’s ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ slipped to second place with $16 million in its fourth weekend of release. The Warner Bros. sequel to 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, has collected $250 million domestically in the month of release.
Third place went to ‘Transformers One’, the prequel to Transformers starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry. After its lower-than-expected debut last weekend, the Paramount release took in $9.3 million in its second weekend.
‘Megalopolis’ was even beaten by the Indian Telugu-language action film ‘Devara: Part 1.’ It grossed $5.1 million in its opening weekend, good enough for fourth place.
Roz, voiced by Oscar winner Lupita N’Yongo, and Brightbill, voiced by Kit Connor, are shown in a scene from DreamWorks Animation’s film The Wild Robot
Lupita can be seen at the premiere of The Wild Robot during the 72nd San Sebastian Film Festival at Teatro Victoria Eugenia in San Sebastian, Spain earlier this month
Francis Ford Coppola is seen with actor Adam on the set of Megalopolis
Michael Keaton is shown as Beetlejuice as he reprized his role for the 2024 sequel
Also making its debut in theaters was Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” an affectionate dramatization of the sketch comedy institution on the night it first aired in 1975.
The same weekend the NBC series began its 50th season, Reitman’s film launched in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles and grossed $265,000, for a solid average of $53,000 per theater. ‘Saturday Night’ will air nationally in two weeks.
Transformers One finished in third place as the family-friendly origin story continued to find an audience after a relatively soft opening weekend.
In fourth place, the new Telugu-language film “Devara Part 1” delivered an action drama about two brothers who become enemies, filmed in the regional Indian language.
In fifth place was Speak No Evil, a new psychological horror film from Blumhouse and Universal Pictures, which grossed $4.3 million.
