Francis Ford Coppola has issued a blistering response to “winning” worst director for Megalopolis after the film was given six Razzie nominations — including worst picture and worst screenplay.
The director’s $120 million passion project already suffered the indignity of being torn apart by critics and flopping at the box office (earning only $12 million globally).
But on Friday, the Razzies — those annual pre-Oscars faux awards for the worst movies of the year — gave Megalopolis wins for director and for co-star Jon Voight.
Coppola took to Instagram to reply: “I am thrilled to accept the Razzie award in so many important categories for @megalopolisfilm, and for the distinctive honor of being nominated as the worst director, worst screenplay, and worst picture at a time when so few have the courage to go against the prevailing trends of contemporary moviemaking!”
Continued the director: “In this wreck of a world today, where ART is given scores as if it were professional wrestling, I chose to NOT follow the gutless rules laid down by an industry so terrified of risk that despite the enormous pool of young talent at its disposal, may not create pictures that will be relevant and alive 50 years from now.”
And he concluded by noting: “What an honor to stand alongside a great and courageous filmmaker like Jacques Tati who impoverished himself completely to make one of cinema’s most beloved failures, PLAYTIME! My sincere thanks to all my brilliant colleagues who joined me to make our work of art, MEGALOPOLIS, and let us remind ourselves us that box-office is only about money, and like war, stupidity and politics has no true place in our future.”
Two things, of course, can be true: Coppola’s criticisms of the industry can be spot on … and Megalopolis can still have fully earned those Razzies.
The Razzies dubbed the film “WTF: The Movie” and called it “an incoherent $120 million mess from the fabled director of The Godfather” while also singling out nominations for two of the film’s stars (Shia LaBeouf and Jon Voight — the latter also won). Read the full list of Razzies.