Adam Driver has a lot of good things to say about his experience filming Francis Ford Coppola's upcoming film Megalopolis, which could be a sign that the world of science fiction is changing. The actor, who has starred in sci-fi films like Star Wars and 65, has said that filming Megalopolis felt like what making movies should be, and he feels a lot of this is due to Coppola self-financing the project. If this translates to box-office success after Megalopolis' release in 2024, more sci-fi directors may want to follow Coppola's lead.
Megalopolis is a passion project that Coppola has been trying to make a reality since the 1980s. It's reportedly about a catastrophic disaster that wipes out New York City. When an architect named Caesar (Driver) decides to rebuild the city as a utopia, he is met with resistance from the mayor. Megalopolis is meant to be a story of hope—a significant divergence from the typical dystopian sci-fi movies audiences are used to. Still, with as grand a scale and budget as was necessary for the project, Coppola had no choice but to fund it himself since no Hollywood studio would get on board.
Adam Driver Has Raved About The Filming Experience Of Coppola's Self-Financed Megalopolis
According to Driver (via Collider), Coppola's decision to self-finance Megalopolis made all the difference. The actor explained, "Because he financed it himself, it made the shooting process one of the best experiences, if not the best shooting experience, I’ve ever had." This is quite a declaration since Driver has been part of several massive sci-fi projects. The Star Wars franchise, where the actor played Kylo Ren, is among his most noteworthy science fiction roles. Given these films' massive budgets, it seems that Driver's experience here would have been tough to beat.
Still, the Megalopolis star believes that Coppola's complete creative and financial freedom allowed the director to stay "in control of the movie that he wanted to make," which resulted in something "imaginative and big and epic." Ultimately, the film must hit theaters before audiences can determine if he was right. However, if Coppola's creative freedom with Megaloplis translates to the screen, then more sci-fi directors could try to duplicate this with their own projects.
Director-Financed Sci-Fi Movies Could Become More Common If Megalopolis Succeeds
If a Hollywood studio is forking over the money for a movie, it gets to decide how things are done. Of course, this varies from company to company, but no studio wants to pay a bunch of money for expensive sci-fi movies if there isn't a high chance of getting that money back. This is precisely why Coppola decided to fund Megalopolis himself. Science fiction movies are especially difficult to get funded since the genre requires high creativity and even higher budgets. To Coppola, it was with it to have both these factors entirely in his own hands for his passion project.
If Driver is right and this factor meant a better experience, not just for Coppola, but for the crew of Megalopolis as well, then other sci-fi movies might need to follow suit. Hollywood studios are notorious headaches in movie-making since their end goal is always to make money. This can be a significant obstacle to creativity. Coppola has made it clear (via Screen Rant) that he isn't concerned about how much money he loses on Megalopolis—it's all about the art. Still, if the film does succeed, it could be a sign to other directors that it could be worth the risk.
Megalopolis Is Still A Big Risk For Francis Ford Coppola
Between Driver's high praise for Megalopolis and the decades it took for Coppola to make the film, it certainly seems to be off to a great start. The director is no stranger to box office success, with the Godfather movies, Apocalypse Now, and The Rainmaker among his many classics. So, Megalopolis may be the next movie added to the list. Of course, recent years have meant an unpredictable box office. Movies expected to be hits frequently flop, and those no one sees coming become blockbusters. If Megalopolis fails to bring in money, then it's Coppola himself who will take the hit.
This isn't a risk that just any director would be willing (or could afford) to take. Coppola is a director dedicated to art, and since he is no longer concerned with his wealth, he has become entirely focused on creating something meaningful with Megalopolis. Sci-fi movies especially can benefit from such an approach. In the end, the more creators within the genre who care about the beauty of what they make rather than the money they make doing it, the more great sci-fi movies consumers are likely to receive. Conveniently, that typically means a profit, too.
