Megaflopolis: the Self-Righteous Rebellion of Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux

Two films, both alike in dignity, one releasing exactly one week after the other, of the same length, down to the minute, each costing upwards of 100 million dollars to produce, failed to turn a profit after a flood of scathing reviews on their respective opening weekend. The consistency and precision of their failure makes one almost think they were intentional when considering how both director and writer Francis Ford Coppola and director and writer Todd Philips have proven themselves capable of consistent box office success in the past. But the reason for the two films’ simultaneous flop is exactly what it looks like: a deliberate attack on the film audience and industry. In his so-called fable “Megalopolis” and his unplanned sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux”, writer/directors Francis Ford Coppola and Todd Philips utilized the wealth provided by their prior success to make their movies as a message: we don’t have to do what you want.

Starting with “Megalopolis”, Francis Ford Coppla made his goals clear forty years ago. Following the completion of his acclaimed “Apocalypse Now” in 1979 Coppola was planning his dream project in the background. Between his major projects–”The Godfather Part III” (1990), “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” (1992), “Jack” (1996), and “The Rainmaker” (1997)–Coppola continued efforts to produce a film that captured his continuously shifting vision of a science fiction based on Fritz Lang’s film “Metropolis” (1927) and the historical plot surrounding ancient Roman politician Lucius Sergius Catiline. The resulting amalgamation of modern New York, ancient Rome, and a science fiction utopia can be seen in his 2024 film, but not without significant alterations from his original musings. Between his other projects it seems his story was only ever half finished by the time something new came up to distract him and coming back with too many new ideas to pick up where he left off. The turning point that finally triggered the film’s production was the appreciation of Francis Ford Coppola’s winery and resorts, which gave him enough money to finance his dream himself. No longer held back by the biases of modern executive producers, Coppola officially returned to the project in 2019, this time determined to finish the film for good even if no one else would back his fusion of out-of-fashion science fiction and esoteric historical drama.

Todd Philips’ film “Joker: Folie à Deux” also took longer than planned, but was far from a passion project. Its prequel, “Joker” (2019), was intended as a standalone film and its phenomenal success came as a surprise, leaving the call for a sequel to be purely financially motivated. While Todd Philips was not necessarily opposed to the idea of a sequel, he wasn’t ready for the immediate demands for him to extend what he had intended to be a complete story. While there isn’t as much information on the development of Philips’ film there are a few major landmarks that suggest slow progress. Philips confirmed work on a sequel had begun in 2022 and the title “Joker: Folie à Deux” was announced in 2023, a year before its 2024 release alongside “Megalopolis”. However, upon its release the film was criticized as abandoning its source material and accomplishing little besides undermining its prequel.

From the timeline of the two films a clear background narrative forms around the pair of directors and the modern film industry that surrounds them both. Francis Ford Coppola’s dream film stayed to the side as studios brought him onto a variety of other projects. In this context, Francis Ford Coppola’s choice to pay out of pocket seems like an artistic attack on the industry: making the movie he wants at great personal cost. On the opposite extreme is Todd Philips with the film that the studios claim to be necessary. Forced to make art by market demand, “Joker: Folie à Deux” was made reluctantly at best and its subsequent failure could be a protest to the profit incentive that sought to control him.

In their own ways, both directors aim to subvert studio demand and free their art from consumer demand. However, this hypothesis comes with an interesting question: if these writers/directors are truly “artists” fighting for freedom of expression within the capitalist system, then why can’t they simply make art of themselves? Clearly writing “Megalopolis” for himself wasn’t enough for Francis Ford Coppola, otherwise he wouldn’t have spent the $120 million to get the star studded cast to perform it and send it to theaters to be viewed by countless viewers ignorant to silent film utopias and long-dead roman politicians. Similarly, Todd Philips could hardly be said to have been “forced” to make his sequel.

Whether they like it or not, the pair have clearly bought into the system (even more literally in Coppola’s case) and have very little ground to stand on as “tortured artists”. While they may play victim to the critics and the audience reviews, the only tragedy of their films “Megalopolis” and “Joker: Folie à Deux” is their role as a symptom of the modern film industry, a profit incentivised commodification of art that both directors helped to create. Even as they strived to avoid giving audiences the films they wanted, Coppola and Philips succeeded in giving us an even more fascinating narrative of poetic justice in the capitalist system.