Iconic director Francis Ford Coppola had a scathing response to his shock Razzies 2025 Worst Director win for Megalopolis.
The five time Oscar winner, 85, best known for his work on The Godfather Trilogy, accepted the dubious honor at the awards this week, celebrating the worst in cinematic releases.
Megalopolis, a $120million film which was mired in production issues and saw Coppola denying allegations of unprofessional behavior on set, only made a paltry $14.6million at the box office.
Coppola, who also funded and produced the film, wrote on Instagram Friday: ‘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!
‘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.
‘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!
Iconic director Francis Ford Coppola had a scathing response to his shock Razzies 2025 Worst Director win for Megalopolis – pictured 2024
Megalopolis, a $120million film which was mired in production issues, only made a paltry $14.6million at the box office – pictured Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel
‘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.’
He was supported by fans who lauded him a ‘genius’ and said they considered Megalopolis – which starred Adam Driver – a ‘masterpiece.’
Coppola fashioned the film, which he first began developing in the late 1970s, as a grand personal statement about human possibility.
‘Everyone’s so worried about money,’ Coppola told The Associated Press in an interview ahead of the film´s release. ‘I say: Give me less money and give me more friends.’
The plot is partly influenced by an infamous coup attempt in the Roman Republic, led by the warrior-statesman Catiline against ruling consuls Cicero and Hybrida.
They enter the mind of the main character Cesar Catilina (Adam Driver), an architect whose artistic genius and innovation puts him squarely at odds with the status quo.
New Rome has been devastated by an accident, which Catilina sees as an opportunity to revamp a formerly crumbling town into a gleaming, sci-fi utopia.
Studios passed on Megalopolis after Cannes. Lionsgate ultimately stepped forward to distribute it, for a fee. Coppola also picked up the tab for most of its $15 million in marketing costs. The film, which also stars Nathalie Emmanuel and Aubrey Plaza, also played in about 200 IMAX locations, which accounted for $1.8 million of its ticket sales.
Coppola, who also funded and produced the film, wrote on Instagram Friday: ‘I am thrilled to accept the Razzie award in so many important categories for @megalopolisfilm’
Coppola’s conduct during production fell under scrutiny earlier last year after he was accused of trying ‘to kiss some of the topless and scantily clad female extras’ who worked on his forthcoming film.
Two brief videos surfaced days later, which seemed to show the director kissing women during a night club scene in the film, which opens in theaters September 27.
The Godfather director denied the allegations in a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone, where he claimed the original report from The Guardian was, ‘totally untrue.’
‘If you read that piece, you’ll realize that whoever the sources were — and I honestly don’t know who the sources were — it’s the same people who provided quotes for that Hollywood Reporter piece that said all these people were fired or resigned, and that there was a mass exodus, all of that,’ Coppola said.
‘And the truth of the matter is, they were looking for some sort of dirt. The young women I kissed on the cheek, in regards to the New Year’s scene, they were young women I knew,’ he insisted.
The director added, ‘It’s all so ridiculous. Look at the timing of that article. It’s right before we’re about to premiere the film at Cannes. They’re just trying to damage the picture.’
When asked why someone would try to ‘damage the picture,’ Coppola explained it’s because he doesn’t ‘follow rules’ set forth in Hollywood.
‘There’s a prevailing tendency in Hollywood to say, if you follow our rules, you’ll have a better chance of a success,’ he began.
‘”Well, what about Francis? He doesn’t follow your rules.” “Well, look, what’s going to happen to him, he’s going to have a failure,”‘ he said of those naysayers.
‘I’m trying to do something different here. Film is change. I mean, the movies that your grandchildren are going to make are going to be nothing like what we see now,’ he said.
Coppola filed a defamation lawsuit against Variety last year over a July 2024 story about alleged misconduct by the director and claims he acted with ‘impunity’ onset.
He denied claims of sexual harassment from one of the movie’s extras. A judge recently denied Variety’s bid to dismiss the lawsuit and the publication is appealing that decision per THR.
Other 2025 Razzie winners include Dakota Johnson, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Voight (for three films) and Amy Schumer.
Joker: Folie à Deux won for worst Prequel or Remake. Worst Screen Duo went to that film’s stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
One name stands out in the crowd, Jennifer Lopez, who is lucky to have lost for her performance in Atlas.
This year’s winners will take home a ‘$4.97 gold spray-painted’ statuette, according to a press release.
The Razzies, which is officially called the Golden Raspberry Awards, is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures.
The Razzie Award winner were announced on Friday. Winners includes Dakota Johnson, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Voight (for three films) and Amy Schumer
Joker: Folie à Deux won for worst Prequel or Remake
Worst Screen Duo went to that film’s stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga
Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzie Awards’ satirical annual ceremony is preceded by its opposite, the Academy Awards, by four decades.
The Golden Raspberry Foundation has claimed that the award ‘encourages well-known filmmakers and top-notch performers to own their bad.’
The first Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony was held on March 31, 1981, in John J. B. Wilson’s living-room alcove in Hollywood, to honor the perceived worst films of the 1980 film season.
To date, Sylvester Stallone is the most-awarded actor ever, with 12 awards.
Gaga’s nomination comes amid news of her upcoming seventh studio album as she drives to move on from the box office bomb that was Joker 2.
The album, currently known as LG7, will be Gaga’s first full-length solo release since 2020’s Chromatica, which featured the hit singles Rain On Me and Stupid Love.
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