Original films like “Megalopolis” struggle to find their footing as studios chase sure bets

Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola’s latest work flopped at the box office over the weekend. Coppola self-funded the film, “Megalopolis,” to the tune of $120 million. Yet it made just $4 million in its opening weekend. 

It’s the latest original film — one that’s not a sequel or remake — to struggle to attract audiences, and it’s at a time when Hollywood studios are hesitant to take a risk on them.

Coppola put his own money into “Megalopolis” because a major studio is less likely to bankroll a high-concept passion project these days.

“Maybe like in the ’70s, yes. Today? No,” said Karie Bible, a media analyst at Exhibitor Relations.

Every film is a gamble for studios, she said. And they’re just not interested in placing risky bets.

“The cost of making movies has gone considerably up,” Bible said. “The cost of marketing movies has gone up.”

Pair that with competition from streaming services, and the margin for error on a theatrical release is pretty small. 

Which, according to Paul Dergarabedian at Comscore, is how the top earners at the box office this summer ended up looking like this: “‘Bad Boys: Ride or Die,’ ‘Inside Out 2,’ ‘A Quiet Place: Day One,’ ‘Despicable Me 4,’ ‘Twisters,’ ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ all did really well.”

Even if an original movie like “Megalopolis” bombs at the box office, Shawn Robbins at Box Office Theory said he’s glad a distributor was willing to put it in theaters.

“Having those types of films come out there, even when they don’t completely connect, shows that the industry is still willing to allow that artistic side to have a chance,” he said.

Because those movies, Robbins added, could inspire future filmmakers.