Francis Ford Coppola has issued a response to “winning” Worst Director for Megalopolis at the 2025 Razzie Awards.
The $120 million film, which was self-funded by Coppola, was nominated for six Razzies in total, including Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay.
Taking to Instagram, Coppola ironically state it was an “honour” to receive the Worst Director award, before hitting out at the industry for being “terrified” of taking risks.
“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!” the director began the post.
“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.”
He added: “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.”
Megalopolis was universally torn apart by critics and majorly flopped at the box office, earning just $12 million globally.
The film stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, a genius architect with the power to control time. After an accident destroys a decaying metropolis called New Rome, Cesar aims to rebuild it as a sustainable utopia, while facing opposition from corrupt Mayor Franklyn Cicero (Giancarlo Esposito). The cast also includes Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf and Laurence Fishburne.
In a two-star review, NME‘s Lou Thomas wrote: “On paper, this may sound like a slightly zany sci-fi take on a noir film but Megalopolis has to be seen to be believed. The dialogue and acting is heightened, skewed and bizarre, lurching from fascinating philosophical arguments to nonsense rhymes and non-jokes. The meshing of styles doesn’t always make sense and is sometimes difficult to follow. The visuals, similarly, are often incredible and sometimes ridiculous.”