Wild Robot Beats Coppola Flop

Filmmaker's longstanding Megalopolis project debuts to $4M
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 29, 2024 12:30 PM CDT
Wild Robot Beats Coppola Flop
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Roz, voiced by Lupita N'yongo, left, and Brightbill, voiced by Kit Connor, in a scene from DreamWorks Animation's "Wild Robot."   (DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures via AP)

Francis Ford Coppola's decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic Megalopolis flopped with moviegoers, while the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation family film Wild Robot soared to No. 1 at the weekend box office. Wild Robot, Chris Sanders' adaptation of Peter Brown's bestseller, outperformed expectations to launch with $35 million in ticket sales in US and Canada theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. Critics have raved about the story of a shipwrecked robot who raises an orphan gosling, the AP reports. Audiences agreed, giving the Universal Pictures film an A CinemaScore.

Megalopolis, Coppola's vision of a Roman epic set in modern-day New York, was a mega-flop by any financial measure. Following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, critics have been mixed on Coppola's first film in 13 years, which he bankrolled himself for $120 million. Audiences gave it a D+ CinemaScore. Coppola fashioned the film, which he began developing in the late 1970s, as a grand personal statement about human possibility. Studios passed on Megalopolis after Cannes. Lionsgate ultimately stepped forward to distribute it, for a fee. The film, which stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, and Aubrey Plaza, also played in about 200 IMAX locations, which accounted for $1.8 million of its ticket sales.

Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

  1. The Wild Robot, $35 million.
  2. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, $16 million.
  3. Transformers One, $9.3 million.
  4. Devara: Part 1, $5.1 million.
  5. Speak No Evil, $4.3 million.
  6. Megalopolis, $4 million.
  7. Deadpool & Wolverine, $2.7 million.
  8. My Old Ass, $2.2 million.
  9. Never Let Go, $2.2 million.
  10. The Substance, $1.8 million.
(More box office stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X