Latest news with #Megalopolis:AnOriginalGraphicNovel
Express Tribune
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Sci-fi drama 'Megalopolis' strikes back in comic form
Following the widely panned release of Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola is giving his most ambitious project a second life, this time, in panels and ink. As per The Guardian, the 86-year-old director has unveiled Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel, a reinterpretation of the sci-fi epic that was both a box office failure and critical misfire upon its debut last year. The film, which starred Adam Driver and cost a reported USD120 million, largely self-financed through Coppola's vineyard sales, grossed a mere USD14 million globally. Despite a desperate marketing pivot that falsely claimed The Godfather and Apocalypse Now had initially been slammed by critics, Megalopolis failed to win over audiences or awards voters. Instead, it garnered infamy at the Golden Raspberries, including nods for Worst Director and Worst Supporting Actor (Jon Voight). Now, in what may be the legendary director's swan song, Coppola is championing a new form for the story, one that allows his sprawling vision room to breathe. The graphic novel, written by Chris Ryall and illustrated by Jacob Phillips, is not merely a storyboard-to-page adaptation. "I hoped the graphic novel would take its own flight, with its own artists and writer," Coppola said in a statement, "so that it would be a sibling of the film, rather than just an echo." Ryall paralleled that sentiment: "Coppola's storytelling challenged and inspired me at every turn. I hope I've created something that both honours and expands the world of the original film." This pivot to a graphic novel marks a rare case of a film becoming source material for a comic, flipping the usual superhero-fuelled dynamic. It also reaffirms Coppola's enduring belief in artistic freedom. "Art can never be constrained but rather always a parallel expression," he said. Megalopolis had a stellar cast, including Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight, Laurence Fishburne and Aubrey Plaza and the film received a ten-minute standing ovation at Cannes last year. At a press conference the morning after it debuted, Coppola addressed putting his own money into the USD120 million project: "The money doesn't matter. What is important are the friends. A friend will never let you down. The money may evaporate." While Megalopolis may have floundered on screen, its rebirth in graphic form offers a new chapter, and perhaps redemption, for one of cinema's most daring auteurs. Whether audiences will follow him from celluloid to the page remains to be seen. But if Coppola has proven anything over his long career, it's that he never stops trying to rewrite the rules.
San Francisco Chronicle
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Francis Ford Coppola turns ‘Megalopolis' into a graphic novel after box office flop
Francis Ford Coppola's long-gestating passion project ' Megalopolis ' was a notorious bomb at the box office. Maybe a graphic novel adaptation of the movie will fare better. Coppola revealed that he has signed off on 'Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel,' which is set to be published by Abrams ComicArts, a division of Abrams Books, in October. Chris Ryall, who has adapted graphic novels based on works by Stephen King, Clive Barker and Harlan Ellison, is the writer. The artist is Jacob Phillips, best known for 'That Texas Blood and Newburn.' 'I hoped the graphic novel would take its own flight, with its own artists and writer so that it would be a sibling of the film, rather than just an echo,' Coppola said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter posted Thursday, April 24. 'That's what I feel Chris, Jacob Phillips and the team at Abrams ComicArts have accomplished. It confirms my feeling that art can never be constrained, but rather always a parallel expression, and part of the bounty we can make available to our patrons, audiences and readers.' 'Megalopolis' follows architect and visionary Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), whose efforts to create a utopian city are challenged by a corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito). The film also stars Aubrey Plaza, Jon Voight, Nathalie Emmanuel and Laurence Fishburne. Coppola worked to bring his vision to the screen for four decades, selling off part of his wine estate and self-financing the $120 million film. Released in September, the film grossed a mere $14.3 million globally. The movie was polarizing, not only due to mixed audience and critics reactions but also because of various controversies that dogged the production, from allegations of on-set misconduct against Coppola to a movie trailer that featured fabricated quotes from critics. Yet the distinctive visual look, including the costumes, production design and cinematography did generally draw praise, and could be seen as a strong foundation for a graphic novel presentation. It is not publicly known what kind of financial arrangement Coppola made with Abrams Books, but whatever it is, the filmmaker apparently needs the money. He went on record producer Rick Rubin's 'Tetragrammaton' podcast in March and shared that he was essentially broke. 'I don't have any money because I invested all the money that I borrowed to make 'Megalopolis,'' he explained. 'It's basically gone. I think it'll come back over 15 or 20 years, but I don't have it now.'
The Guardian
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Francis Ford Coppola unveils Megalopolis graphic novel
Megalopolis, Francis Ford Coppola's $120m passion project, was neither a box office nor a critical success on release last year. Largely funded by the sale of Coppola's own vineyards, the sci-fi epic starring Adam Driver took around $14m at the global box office amid unconvinced reviews and rumours of abnormal on-set behaviour by its director. A marketing campaign attempted to leverage bad critical notices by flagging that previous works by Coppola now acclaimed as masterpieces – including Apocalypse Now and The Godfather – had been dismissed by critics at the time. But this backfired after it emerged all of the sniffy historical reviews had been fabricated. The film failed to earn the attention of awards bodies other than the Golden Raspberries for bad movies, which voted the film both worst director and worst supporting actor (for Jon Voight). Now, a new attempt to ensure the legacy of what may be the 86-year-old director's final film has been announced: a comic book re-interpretation by Chris Ryall, titled Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis: An Original Graphic Novel. In a statement on Thursday, Coppola explained that the book would not simply be a re-rendering of his film. 'I was pleased to put the idea of a graphic novel in the competent hands of Chris Ryall with the idea that, although it was inspired by my film Megalopolis, it didn't necessarily have to be limited by it,' he said. 'I hoped the graphic novel would take its own flight, with its own artists and writer so that it would be a sibling of the film, rather than just an echo. That's what I feel Chris, Jacob Phillips and the team at Abrams ComicArts have accomplished. It confirms my feeling that art can never be constrained, but rather always a parallel expression, and part of the bounty we can make available to our patrons, audiences and readers.' Said Ryall: 'Coppola's storytelling challenged and inspired me at every turn,' adding that he hoped he had 'created something that both honours and expands the world of the original film.' Although graphic novels are often used as source material for film, in particular for superhero movies, the reverse is considerably more unusual.
