Famous director Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar winner for the film “The Godfather” and creator of the film “Apocalypse Modern”, has been forced to sell part of his personal watch collection. The reason for this is serious financial difficulties after the failure of his latest film.
Coppola invested her $120 million in Megalopolis (2024), refusing studio backing. He wanted to maintain creative independence, but the project turned out to be a financial disaster for him, earning about $14-15 million, according to The New York Times and Business Insider.
“I didn’t want anyone to interfere with my vision,” Coppola told the NYT. “But now I have to think about survival.”
Despite its stellar cast, the film received mixed reviews and failed to find an audience. Even on streaming sites, interest in the film was low, according to Variety.
The director owns Francis Ford Coppola Winery and Inglenook Winery in California. Inflation, rising taxes and reduced demand for fine wines have caused corporate profits to shrink. According to the NYT, the director has been using income from wine production to finance his film projects for several years.
This is not the director’s first crisis. After the release of the film “One From the Heart” in 1982, Coppola went bankrupt – the project led to the bankruptcy of his studio “Zoetrope“. He was also forced to sell his real estate and paintings.
December’s Phillips auction will feature seven watches from Coppola’s personal collection, including the legendary FP Journe FFC Prototype, a model based on his own design. Priced at $1 million, this watch is considered one of the rarest in the history of the brand.
The other watches are from Patek Philippe, Blancpain, IWC, Breguet and others, with pre-sale estimates ranging from $3,000 to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The auction is scheduled for December 6 and 7, 2025.
Coppola’s story illustrates just how risky auteur cinema has become in the age of blockbusters and streaming. Old school directors can no longer rely on big box office returns or studio backing if they rely on original ideas instead of franchises.
“Film has always been my way of talking about the future. But now, to create something new, you have to bet on everything,” Coppola said in an interview with The New York Times.
After the failed “Megalopolis” project, Coppola has already announced his next film “Moongaze”, an adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel. He described the film as a “weird 1930s-style musical” with elements of dance and music.
The director emphasized that the budget will be particularly modest, since the funds invested in “Megalopolis” have been exhausted: “I have no money. That’s all.”
