For over 5 a long time, Francis Ford Coppola has been Hollywood’s best high-stakes gambler, a filmmaker who wager every little thing, again and again, on his uncompromising imaginative and prescient of what cinema may very well be. To finance these gambles, Francis has begged, borrowed, and mortgaged. He is bought buildings, islands, vineyards, and extra. He is stared down chapter not as soon as however a number of occasions, all in pursuit of artwork that defied industrial logic.
A few of these bets paid off massively. Others, not a lot. Sadly, Coppola’s newest ardour venture, “Megalopolis”, landed within the “not a lot” class.
Launched in 2024 after a long time of improvement and delays, “Megalopolis” was a private triumph however a monetary catastrophe. Regardless of its star-studded solid and grand ambition, the movie grossed simply $14.4 million worldwide. That is an issue as a result of the movie value greater than $120 million to make. And in contrast to a typical director who would have used a studio’s cash to finance at the very least a portion of the funds, Francis chipped in that $120 million FROM HIS OWN BANK ACCOUNT. Not a part of it. All of it.
At his monetary peak, Francis Ford Coppola’s internet price was effectively over $100 million — maybe nearer to $200 million when factoring within the worth of his wineries, actual property, movie catalog, royalties, and way of life model. He bought two Napa vineyards to boost a lot of the $120 million he used for “Megalopolis.” That fortune has been solely wiped away.
In March 2025, throughout an look on Rick Rubin’s “Tetragrammaton” podcast, Francis spoke candidly concerning the fallout and his monetary issues:
“I haven’t got any cash as a result of I invested all the cash, that I borrowed, to make ‘Megalopolis. It is principally gone.”
In an October 2025 interview with the New York Instances, Francis confirmed he was “broke” and was planning to promote private objects to “preserve the ship afloat.” Hitting the public sale block first was his spectacular watch assortment.
(MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP through Getty Photographs)
A Director’s Timepieces
Over the weekend, seven watches from Francis Ford Coppola’s non-public assortment have been auctioned at Phillips New York Watch Public sale: XIII. The high-end estimate of the whole quantity that might be raised from the public sale was $1.3 million, most of which might come from one watch, a one-of-a-kind F.P. Journe FFC Prototype that was anticipated to fetch $1 million. When the ultimate gavel struck after an 11-minute public sale, that one watch alone bought for $10.755 million. The seven watches collectively bought for $11.69 million. Beneath is a desk itemizing every watch, the estimated sale worth, and the ultimate sale worth:
| Watch | Reference | Estimate | Last Sale Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| F.P. Journe FFC Prototype | Prototype | In extra of $1,000,000 | $10,755,000 |
| F.P. Journe Chronomètre à Résonance | RN 40mm (Platinum) | $120,000 – $240,000 | $584,200 |
| IWC Portugieser Chronograph | Ref. IW3714 | $3,000 – $6,000 | $21,590 |
| Breguet Classique | Ref. 5140BA | $4,000 – $8,000 | $60,960 |
| Patek Philippe Calatrava | Ref. 3919 | $6,000 – $12,000 | $87,630 |
| Patek Philippe World Time | Ref. 5130G | $15,000 – $30,000 | $88,900 |
| Blancpain Répétition Minutes | Numbered 01 | $15,000 – $30,000 | $91,440 |
| Complete | $11,689,720 | ||
On the heart of the sale was the F.P. Journe FFC Prototype, a one-of-a-kind mechanical marvel co-designed by Coppola himself and Swiss grasp watchmaker François-Paul Journe. The timepiece, which tells time utilizing a sculpted human hand that strikes its fingers to point the hour, bought for $10.755 million. It set a brand new file for the most costly F.P. Journe wristwatch ever bought, surpassing the earlier $8.3 million benchmark set in Geneva in 2024. It was additionally the very best worth achieved at public sale in the US for a timepiece because the $17.8 million sale of Paul Newman’s Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona, additionally bought by Phillips, in 2017.
The FFC Prototype wasn’t only a collector’s trophy—it was the product of a real friendship and collaboration. The concept for the watch started in 2012, throughout a dinner at Coppola’s Inglenook property in Napa Valley. Journe was visiting, and Coppola casually requested whether or not anybody had ever made a watch that advised time utilizing a human hand. That single query sparked the event of an idea that might take practically a decade to understand. The end result, gifted to Coppola in 2021, was a technical and creative feat: a mechanical sculpture in movement, created not by advertising committee however by two males obsessive about craft.
Though the FFC drew the headlines, the remainder of the gathering supplied a extra private glimpse into Coppola’s tastes and experiences. A platinum Chronomètre à Résonance, gifted to him by his spouse Eleanor in 2009, bought for $584,200. It was the watch that started his correspondence with Journe and in the end led to the creation of the FFC. The opposite items, from a Blancpain minute repeater to a humble IWC chronograph, revealed a collector who valued legacy, precision, and storytelling in each object he owned.
Sadly, this watch assortment is just not the one Coppola asset being bought off to boost cash. Final month, Francis bought considered one of his islands in Belize for $1.8 million. Different property are absolutely to observe. Coppola nonetheless owns a number of high-end properties and hospitality ventures, together with Blancaneaux Lodge and Turtle Inn in Belize, La Lancha in Guatemala, and the Palazzo Margherita, a luxurious resort in southern Italy that after belonged to his grandfather’s household. These resorts function beneath The Household Coppola Hideaways model, which was as soon as thought of a significant pillar of his post-Hollywood enterprise empire.
He additionally stays the longtime proprietor of the Sentinel Constructing in San Francisco’s North Seaside neighborhood—a historic copper-green flatiron he bought in 1973 and used as headquarters for his unbiased studio, American Zoetrope. That constructing, too, has reportedly been put up as collateral for a non-public mortgage, suggesting it might not be off the desk if additional liquidations are wanted.
In an business pushed by revenue margins and market-tested scripts, Coppola stays a uncommon determine: somebody who would fairly danger monetary damage than make one thing secure. However you understand what might get him out of this gap actually fast? Possibly the subsequent Marvel film might be helmed by Francis Ford Coppola 🙂
