Francis Ford Coppola clarifies his comment against Marvel films, says franchises have a formulaic approach and lack artistic risk

Veteran filmmakers Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola made headlines after they criticised Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Coppola was speaking at  Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, where he not just backed Scorsese’s critique of the superhero films but also denounced them as “despicable”. However, in a new interview with Deadline, the five-time Oscar winning director clarified that his remarks were mistranslated. He made it clear that the word “despicable” was not used for Marvel but was directed towards the the film industry’s preference for generating revenue over creating art. [caption id=“attachment_7527711” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Francis Ford Coppola. Image from Twitter[/caption] “Personally I don’t like the idea of franchises, the notion that you can keep repeating what is essentially the same movie for financial gain — in other words, what is a formulaic approach. I feel that approach is taken to reduce the economic risk of movies, and I feel the “risk factor” is an element that makes movies sometimes be great. Also, the formulaic film draws most available resources to them, leaving little for more daring productions, reducing diversity. In some ways I think the cinema is like food; certainly you can add things to make it tempting, tasty and enjoyable but it must also be nutritious to qualify as real food,” said the filmmaker. Deadline also included Coppola’s original statements from the interview in France. He said “real cinema” was a “gift to society,” which just “doesn’t just take money and make people rich.” It is to be noted that Coppola shot to fame after he helmed The Godfather trilogy. According to IndieWire, he recently showcased a new cut of his 1984 film The Cotton Club at the New York Film Festival. He had also revealed that he is currently working on his new project: Megalopolis, a film about a utopia, a project he has nurtured for two decades.