“Gonna see this movie three times just to reward his effort”: Lionsgate Has Abandoned Marketing Campaign of Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis, a Movie He Spent 40 Years Making

After Megalopolis‘ Cannes premiere proved to be divisive, the top brass in Hollywood was more hesitant to give a home to Francis Ford Coppola’s audacious sci-fi epic, which he also self-financed. But finally, three months after its Cannes debut, the film finally found a distributor in Lionsgate, who signed a deal with the renowned filmmaker to release it in the U.S. and Canada.

But on top of the $120M that Coppola spent to bring his vision to reality, Megalopolis is now set to cost him an additional expense, as Lionsgate isn’t going to do the heavy lifting for its marketing.

Francis Ford Coppola Is Expected to Self-Finance Megalopolis’ Marketing Campaign

Megalopolis is proving to be a cash burner for the Apocalypse Now filmmaker, for which he previously sold his Sonoma winery. But while the search for a distributor finally concluded, it seems Lionsgate will not be paying for the film’s marketing, even though Lionsgate Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson previously said:

It is a true privilege to work with him, and to bring this incredible, audacious, and utterly unique movie to theatrical audiences

According to THR, Francis Ford Coppola is expected to spend an additional $15-20 million for the film’s marketing expense, which Lionsgate is intending to put on more than 1,500 screens.

Following the Apocalypse Now director’s uphill battle to secure a wide-screen release for his sci-fi epic, fans are coming forward to showcase their support, claiming they’ll be there when it hits theatre.

Coppola is spending $140M of his own money to bring us his final opus. We need to make Megalopolis a big hit to honor him and to say thank you for his many cinematic gifts. Go see #Megalopolis in theaters. Encourage everyone you know to see it. Let's prove the studios wrong and…

— R. Marshall Smith ☮️🎃 🍀⏳ (@peacepumpkinpic) June 21, 2024

Looks like I'm going to have to watch this a few times in theaters!

— kingroblo.eth 🎞 (@king_rob_lo) June 21, 2024

i don't even care if it's bad or offensive or offensively bad, i want people to see it so he gets his money back and show the rest of these rich people they need to think bigger and use their money to make art because the studio CEOs sure aren't interested in art for arts sake

— Julius Seizure (@SpeakMemery) June 21, 2024

His entire life savings are going into this movie ! He really does believe in it

— Fatine ✨️ (@FatineArji) June 20, 2024

I’m gonna see this movie three times just to reward his effort. Same with Costner’s film.

— PNWBirdhunter 🦆 🐕 🇺🇸 (@FanaticLurker) June 21, 2024

But despite spending a ginormous sum for the Adam Driver-led feature, the filmmaker shares no regret, as he has already started writing his next film.

Francis Ford Coppola Is Unscathed Despite His Megalopolis Expense

For fans familiar with Francis Ford Coppola‘s history in showbiz, it’d come as no surprise that The Godfather director has no regret for spending over $120 million to make his long-awaited film. This isn’t the first time the director has risked everything to make his vision a reality, as similar was the case with One from the Heart, whose failure doomed him financially for a decade.

Moreover, this was also the reason why Megalopolis got delayed, whose script he first conceived during the early ’80s. Even though bringing the sci-fi flick to the big screen has once again taken a heavy toll on him financially, he shares no regret about his decision.

There’s so many people when they die, they say, ‘Oh, I wish I had done this,’” Coppola said. “But when I die, I’m going to say, ‘I got to do this, and I got to see my daughter win an Oscar and I got to make wine and I got to make every movie I wanted…

With the film earning a late September release window, which will go head to head with Interstellar‘s re-release and later Joker: Folie à Deux, fans will hope it’s not another repeat of One from the Heart.

Megalopolis is slated to release on September 27, 2024.