Francis Ford Coppola’s Epic Passion Project Megalopolis cost him one of his most precious possessions. As one of the most acclaimed and ambitious directors in Hollywood history, Coppola is no stranger to directing big-budget blockbusters and tackling subjects (and artists) that have often been considered complicated and difficult.
Among Coppola’s most acclaimed and famous films are THE Godfather trilogy, Vietnam War epic Apocalypse nowAnd Dracula by Bram Stoker. Over the course of his career, Coppola made a name for himself as one of the industry’s most inventive filmmakers, but his later career was plagued by costly failures and has only made five films since 1997.
By LA TimesCoppola was forced to sell his watch collection due to the financial consequences of the box office attack Megalopolis flop. The director put his seven timepieces up for auction to recoup part of the financial losses suffered Megalopolisincluding his custom FP Journe FFC prototype, which is estimated to sell for over $1 million.
Despite MegalopolisAmbitious in scale, the film exploded in theaters, costing only $14 million against a production budget of more than $120 million, much of which was financed by Coppola himself. While it’s unlikely his watch collection could fetch anything close to that amount, it could be a necessity for the Rumble fish director.
Megalopolis was Coppola’s first film since his horror failure Twixt in 2011.
While it is common for filmmakers to sometimes finance their own projects, this is something more common in independent cinema and unusual for a director of Coppola’s prominence. The move could suggest that he is facing financial difficulties, which seems to indicate that his last major box office success was in 1992.
While Megalopolis It’s unlikely to rank among Coppola’s best films, but it was a labor of love for the famed director. In July, Coppola revealed that he had invested his last $100 million in Megalopolisand the fact that he is selling his prized watch collection suggests that he is still struggling to recover from the financial hit he took to fund his passion project.
It’s unclear what Coppola’s next career move will be Megalopolisand the film’s failure could prevent the 86-year-old from ever directing a big-budget project of this scale again. It is not yet known whether Coppola will make another film, but recovering from the financial disaster of Megalopolis It’s going to take time for the Hollywood legend.
Megalopolis
8/10
- Release date
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September 27, 2024
- Runtime
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138 minutes
