‘Megalopolis’ flops, ‘The Wild Robot’ soars at box office

AP Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic “Megalopolis” flopped with moviegoers, while the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation family film “The Wild Robot” soared to No. 1 at the weekend box office. “The Wild Robot,” Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s bestseller, outperformed expectations to launch with $35 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Megalopolis,” Coppola’s vision of a Roman epic set in modern-day New York, was never expected to perform close to that level. But the film’s $4 million debut was still sobering for a movie that Coppola bankrolled himself for $120 million. Critics have been mixed on Coppola’s first film in 13 years. Audiences gave in a D+ CinemaScore. By any financial measure, “Megalopolis” was a mega-flop.