Why we may never see Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis on streaming or Blu-ray (2025)

There was a time when Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis was the most anticipated movie there was. And we all kind of knew that it would be a work of genius or a complete dud (that’s just kind of how Coppola operates). Unfortunately for Coppola – who sunk well over $100 million of his own cash into it – Megalopolis came and went. Now, nobody can find it.

Just to give you an idea of how much Megalopolis bombed, the movie had a budget of at least $120 million (again, we’re talking Coppola’s own wine money) and grossed less than $15 million, hitting theaters in September 2024 and departing the following month. One would expect Lionsgate to have at least dumped it to streaming by this point but it is nowhere to be found. And this seems to come down to Coppola himself.

As reported by THR, Francis Ford Coppola is apparently disinterested in ever having Megalopolis be seen on a TV, computer or iPhone. As it stated, “Instead of a digital release, Coppola is taking the film on tour. Days after the AFI tribute, he boarded a flight to Boston for a sold-out screening at the Coolidge Theater. Later this month, he’s headed to Detroit.”

This is a shift in method for Coppola considering we actually had – for an extremely brief period – Megalopolis available to stream on Amazon and Apple TV+. But it was since taken down as Coppola embarks on his tour to screen his latest – and perhaps final – film.

In a way, I respect that Francis Ford Coppola is taking complete ownership of Megalopolis. After all, this is his film, something that had been developing in one form or another since the days of making Apocalypse Now – we’re talking nearly 50 years of development hell. And with its own hellish release, one can see why he’s ensuring the film is only seen as he intends it. Really, what does he have to lose? On the other hand, those of us who didn’t see Megalopolis (and we’ve all seen the box office numbers, so there are a lot of us) now have a much slimmer chance of doing so. Granted, the reviews don’t exactly hail it as the masterpiece we all wanted it to be, but the broader opportunity should still be there.

How do you feel about Coppola’s decision to control the release of Megalopolis?