“Francis Ford Coppola’s Bold Move: A Splash That Backfired”
“If I film it, they will come,” Kevin Costner declared.
“I’ll make them a picture they can’t refuse,” Francis Ford Coppola promised.
In reality, neither promise materialized as hoped.
While the summer box office has recently seen a resurgence with hits like “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool & Wolverine,” two high-profile vanity projects from celebrated directors have stumbled embarrassingly: Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga” and Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.”
These once-respected filmmakers have become the butt of jokes due to their costly misadventures. Each project set them back nearly $100 million of their personal fortunes, and their failures have made headlines for all the wrong reasons.
This week, at 85 years old, Coppola unveiled a new trailer for his extravagant $120 million project, “Megalopolis,” an ambitious epic about a city’s tumultuous rebirth. Despite its grandiose ambitions, the film was met with lukewarm reviews at Cannes.
In a bid to bolster his film’s reputation, Coppola’s trailer included fabricated quotes from critics like Pauline Kael and John Simon, suggesting that his movies, much like his wines, improve with age. Ironically, many critics initially praised “The Godfather” upon its release, making these manipulations all the more absurd. The film, which Coppola has been working on since 1977 and funded by selling a portion of his wine business, has struggled to find distribution after its lackluster reception in France. Its last chance at redemption lies in its North American debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in two weeks, where I’ll be covering it firsthand.
On the other hand, Costner’s “Horizon” has already premiered and flopped. The actor, known for “Field of Dreams,” seemed to have learned nothing from the failure of “Waterworld.” At 68, he left the hugely popular “Yellowstone” and mortgaged his California estate to finance his $98 million project. “Horizon,” which he wrote, directed, and starred in, was envisioned as an epic four-part Western, akin to a “Game of Thrones” set in the Old West.
Unfortunately, the first chapter of this sprawling saga was met with indifference and derision. The film, which was torturously long, debuted at Cannes to unfavorable reviews and continued to underperform at the domestic box office, grossing only $34 million. Consequently, the planned August release for the second chapter was canceled. Costner remains hopeful that the Venice premiere of “Chapter 2” on September 7 will be better received.
While there’s something admirable about these directors’ dedication to their vision, regardless of the outcome, their “passion projects” ultimately come across as exercises in hubris. No matter what Coppola’s deceptive trailer suggests, history is likely to view these endeavors as grand, albeit misguided, gestures. Kevin Costner and Francis Ford Coppola have become the year’s most tragic duo.
