Big-Budget ‘Megalopolis’ Crumbles In Opening Weekend At Box Office

Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed cinematic opus Megalopolis is off to a poor start in its opening weekend at the domestic box office.

Per Deadline, Coppola sunk $120 million of his own money into the independent production, which is distributed domestically by Lionsgate Films.

Megalopolis—which Coppola first conceptualized decades ago—is a sprawling sci-fi tale influenced the fall of the Roman Empire but is set in the futuristic American metropolis called New Rome.

Megalopolis features a megawatt acting ensemble, including Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, Shia LaBeouf, Talia Shire and Dustin Hoffman.

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Deadline is projecting that Megalopolis will earn $4 million in 1,854 North American in the film’s opening Friday to Sunday frame.

Tracking reports heading into the weekend from both Deadline and Variety projected that the film would make $5 million to $7 million in its opening weekend.

If Deadline’s estimate holds, Megalopolis will finish at No. 6 in its weekend debut at the domestic box office.

‘The Wild Robot’ Takes Over No. 1 Spot From ‘Beetlejuice 2’

Deadline projects that DreamWorks new animated family adventure The Wild Robot will top this weekend’s box office with $35 million in domestic ticket sales at 3,962 locations.

Distributed by Universal Pictures, The Wild Robot stars the voices of Lupita Nyong’o and Pedro Pascal.

Meanwhile, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is projected to make $16.3 million in 3,084 theaters domestically for a No. 2 finish this weekend.

If the estimate holds, the Warner Bros. supernatural comedy directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton in the title role will end its fourth weekend in theaters with $250.3 million in domestic ticket sales.

Paramount Pictures’ animated adventure Transformers One is projected by Deadline to take third place domestically with $9 million in ticket sales, which will boost its running total to $38.8 million.

Devara: Part 1—an Indian action drama distributed domestically by Prathyangira Cinemas and Hamsini Entertainment—is projected to take the No. 4 spot at $6.4 million at 1,040 venues in its debut weekend.

Universal Pictures’ psychological horror thriller Speak No Evil is projected by Deadline to round out the domestic top five with $4.25 million in 2,661 theaters. If the estimate holds, Speak No Evil will end Sunday with $28 million in domestic ticket sales.

Note: This report will be updated throughout the weekend with additional domestic box office information, as well as international numbers. The final numbers for this weekend’s box office will be released on Monday.