Francis Ford Coppola Hails Barbenheimer Success as a ‘Victory for Cinema’: ‘They Are True One-Offs’

Francis Ford Coppola is celebrating Barbie and Oppenheimer‘s success.

As Coppola, 84, answered questions from fans on his Instagram Story last Friday, the Oscar-winning filmmaker shared his thoughts on the future of Hollywood as the two films continue to dominate the box office.

“I have yet to see [either Barbie or Oppenheimer]” Coppola wrote in his Story, according to multiple outlets. The posts themselves have since expired. “But the fact that people are filling big theaters to see them and that they are neither sequels nor prequels, no number attached to them, meaning they are true one-offs, is a victory for cinema.”

“My hunch is that we’re on the verge of a golden age,” he added in a separate answer, responding to a question regarding the future of cinema. “Wonderful and illuminating cinema seen in large theaters.”

Both Barbie and Oppenheimer continued to soar at the box office last weekend; Barbie‘s $93 million weekend at the domestic box office made for the the seventh-largest second weekend at the box office for a movie in history, per Variety. Oppenheimer, meanwhile, made an additional $46.6 million in its second weekend in theaters. Both movies have already found a place in the top 10 highest-grossing releases of 2023 just 10 days after their release, according to Box Office Mojo.

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Director Francis Ford Coppola attends the red carpet at the Taormina Film Fest 2022 on June 26, 2022.

Daniele Venturelli/Daniele Venturelli / Getty

The Godfather director himself remains at work on his upcoming movie Megalopolis, which he said back in 2022 that he intended to spend around $120 of his own money to produce.

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Coppola spoke to his personal investment in the upcoming film — which stars Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza among a large ensemble of actors — with Deadline in May, noting that he sold some of his holdings in his wine company to help fund the project.

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Warner Bros. Pictures

“I am grateful to be in the position to be able to make a film that haunts me and that I feel will be wonderful, that will shed light on the subject of what the future might be like and what human beings are really like,” he said at the time. “I am as happy as I could be.”

Little is known about the movie; Coppola previously told GQ that the film will explore the idea of “utopia.” LaBeouf, 37, was spotted filming scenes for the movie in Atlanta with costar Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones) back in November.

Barbie and Oppenheimer are in theaters now. Megalopolis does not yet have a release date.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education