Francis Ford Coppola answered questions at the Megapolis press conference at the 77th annual Cannes Film Festival Photo: Victor Boyko/POOL/EPA-EFE /Shutterstock/Shutterstock
Francis Ford Coppola said “money doesn't matter” after risking $120 million of his personal fortune to finance a film that critics called “weird.”
The film's director The Godfather and Apocalypse Now headed to the 77th Cannes Film Festival in France for the premiere of their new work Megalopolis, an eccentric passion project 40 years in the making.
The sci-fi film tells about a futuristic city in the USA with a Roman theme, including a main character named Cesar, and stars Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel.
It was greeted with disbelief by some critics due to terrible reviews, which ranged from two to four stars, and it is understood the film does not yet have a deal for distribution in the United States.
The film received a standing ovation at Cannes on Thursday after its premiere , which Coppola called “a wonderful feeling.”
Francis Ford Coppola said receiving a standing ovation in Metropolis was a “wonderful feeling” . Photo: Victor Boyko/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
In 2021, Coppola sold Francis Ford Coppola Winery to Delicato Family Wines to raise funds for his latest project, but he is not concerned about the risk to his personal life. finances if the film fails.
In response to questions about the potential impact on his personal fortune that such a “risky” film would create, Coppola said he “never cared about money” – and told the assembled press in Cannes that “money doesn’t matter.” /p>
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The 85-year-old director also said that his star family, including daughter Sofia Coppola, an Oscar-winning director, and son Roman, another director, are not must depend on the father's fortune.
< p>He said: “My children, without exception… they have a wonderful career and without a fortune, they do not need a fortune.”
Coppola also explained that while some may worry that his finances will be at stake with his latest film, his shrewd investment in a California winery has made this possible without much personal risk.
He said: ” One of the reasons I had the line of credit that I did to be able to do this movie is because in 2008, you remember the 2008 financial crisis, I borrowed $20 million in those days to take over the winery. and build a winery.
“This absurd $20 million risk created a toy that every winery where people go and spend all day is trying to replicate.
“I just took the money from there, and if I didn't have it, I wouldn't took a chance and took a chance on the film.”
The cast of Megalopolis includes Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel, who accompanied Coppola to the press -conferences. Photo: Victor Boyko/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock/Shutterstock
He also said that he did not shoot the film in New York because he argued that the government subsidy requires you to “do certain things through New York studios and institutions that are grossly overpriced.”
In In the 1970s, the director also self-financed Apocalypse Now, which is considered a modern classic. . The film's set was notoriously chaotic, with crew drinking, tropical storms and rebels disrupting filming.
Megalopolis takes the plot to overthrow the Roman Republic to the futuristic USA, where an architect, played by Driver, tries to build his ideal city.
He also said that the USA is modeled after the Roman Republic and that he inspired the film in a place called New Rome. Coppola added that he had “no idea that today's politics” would make the Roman setting so “relevant.”
“What's happening in America, in our republic, in our democracy, is exactly what is happening.” like Rome lost its republic thousands of years ago,” Coppola said, warning of a potential repeat of the fall of the Roman Republic.
“Our politics have brought us to the point where we could lose (our) republic, and so this It’s not the people who have become politicians who will be the answer, I feel it’s the artists of America, because the role of the artist is to illuminate modern life, to shed light on it, to be the center of attention,” he said.
He added: “There is a tendency towards the strengthening of neo-rightist, even fascist traditions, and this is frightening.”
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