A new report claimed that Dustin Hoffman, devastated by the critical acclaim for his megaflop Megalopolis, is prepared to bid Hollywood farewell.
According to unnamed sources, the 87-year-old Hoffman wanted to collaborate with the famed Francis Ford Coppola for the final film of his spectacular career, but the critically acclaimed film has failed to live up to expectations, crushing Hoffman's dream.
"Dustin knows his legacy is secure with his films like Tootsie, Rain Man and Kramer vs. Kramer. But he really hoped he had one more legendary film left in him, so he hitched his star to one of the most accomplished film directors of all time with Francis. It crushes him that Megalopolis will be legendary all right as one of the biggest turkeys ever made!" the anonymous insider told GLOBE Magazine.
One review ripped Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola's $120 million passion picture as "self-indulgent, absolute madness" and "bat-sh*t crazy." The film reunites Hoffman with “Midnight Cowboy” co-star Jon Voight and also features younger actors Adam Driver and Aubrey Plaza.
Even more humiliating for Megalopolis was the fact that the film's distributor, Lionsgate, had to remove the theatrical trailer after realizing the critics' quotations it had used were false.
Now, though an undisclosed informant denied it, it was claimed that huffy Hoffman is considering hanging up his hat and simply enjoying his days with his wife of 43 years, Lisa.
"Dustin believed he could still be part of a blockbuster. With this one going bust, he's ready to say goodbye to his profession!" the tipster claimed.
Meanwhile, in most cases, the top directors will pair up with the top actors. It would have been much more if Dustin hadn't been so quick to turn down offers, but he fits the bill and has worked with some of the best directors in the business.
While Hoffman has been in the industry for a long enough time and has achieved enough success to ensure that he will never look back with regret, he did pass up the opportunity to work with some truly remarkable auteurs on films that would later be considered cinematic classics.
Although it's understandable that Hoffman wouldn't have felt a good fit for Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver," he turned down the role. It would be hard to picture "The Graduate" actor Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle given how linked the two are.
The two-time Oscar winner did not give in to Federico Fellini's advances, passed on three Steven Spielberg films—"Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "Always," and Schindler's "List"—and could not bring herself to sanction moving to Europe to collaborate with Ingmar Bergman on “The Touch.”
He worked with Spielberg on "Hook" in the end, but for a time, the industry's most successful filmmaker thought Hoffman was the one who kept slipping through the cracks. However, he did collaborate with some all-timers, and three of them really stood out to the celebrity.
Spielberg strangely became one of them after he kept him at arm's length for so long. “Spielberg is extremely generous,” he told That Shelf, which might have been partially derived from his perseverance in finally convincing him to sign on for one of his films.
Hoffman "loved working with" a number of directors, including those on "Wag the Dog," "Sphere," and Rain Man's "Barry Levinson," but the filmmaker who catapulted the relatively unknown actor's career and gave him the opportunity to proclaim himself as a rising star of a new generation was showered with the most lavish and gushing praise.
“Mike Nichols was wonderful. It was 100 days of shooting, but it was a month of rehearsals. Starting from zero on a soundstage with a tape like you do in a play. You can’t do that today because it’s like, ‘We’re not going to be paying for the cinematographer and the art director and all of these other people’s salaries if they’re not shooting,’” Hoffman said of the mastermind behind “The Graduate.”
It may have been the first time he appeared onscreen with his longtime buddy and ex-roommate Gene Hackman, who was later let go from the cast. Nichols received the most praise, though, since Hoffman had a breakout performance that catapulted her career.
To him, what exactly is the ideal creative collaborator? A person who promotes honesty while maintaining a casual demeanor. “I prefer that, and I prefer those kinds of directors,” Hoffman stated.
Business Times has reached out to Dustin Hoffman for comments.
