Francis Ford Coppola criticises state of modern cinema: “The job is not so much to make good movies”

nme.com:

Francis Ford Coppola has lamented the state of modern cinema, claiming some major studios no longer focus on making high quality films.Speaking at a press conference at Cannes Film Festival following the world premiere of his new dystopian drama Megalopolis, Coppola expressed his view that studios are mostly focused on making money due to their high levels of debt.“I fear that the film industry has become more of a matter of people being hired to meet their debt obligations because the studios are in great, great debt.

And the job is not so much to make good movies, the job is to make sure they pay their debt obligations,” Coppola told Variety.However, The Godfather director believes streaming services could interrupt the old system and potentially have a positive impact on the industry. “Obviously, new companies like Amazon and Apple and Microsoft, they have plenty of money, so it might be that the studios we knew for so long, some wonderful ones, are not to be here in the future anymore.”Megalopolis, which was self-financed by Coppola and took decades to make, received a mixed reaction at its Cannes Film Festival premiere on Thursday (May 16).

The film stars Adam Driver as Cesar Catilina, an architect-scientist who wants to improve a fictional version of New York City called New Rome.Audience members reportedly started booing after the film ended.

However, according to World of Reel‘s Jordan Ruimy, the boos soon turned to cheers when an “In Memoriam” segment proceeded to play for Coppola’s late wife Eleanor.