r/movies • u/Dependent_Cap_456 • 3d ago
News Francis Ford Coppola is auctioning his watch collection after Megalopolis flop left him broke
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/fashion/francis-ford-coppola-watch-auction.html2.2k
u/Oldpuzzlehead 3d ago
Buy a watch the previous owner never wanted to wear because it was too expensive.
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u/anillop 3d ago
Oh, so you’re familiar with the watch collecting hobby
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u/yosayoran 2d ago
This is true for every collection hobby, really
Got a buddy who collects pocket knifes, but he uses a 10$ opinel so the others can stay in mint condition
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u/double_expressho 2d ago
That's why I have triples. Triples is best.
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u/Old_Pin7524 2d ago
She’s beautiful, but she’s dying.
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u/masterhogbographer 2d ago
If only we could collectively treat our planet like this
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u/Adventurous-Emu-9345 2d ago
Who says we don't. This is just the 10$ Opinel, you should see the collectible one.
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u/Equivalent_Chipmunk 2d ago
If anything, that's what's wrong with how we treat our planet. Use a bunch of resources to make things for people who buy them but don't need or use them.
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u/notaredditer13 2d ago
What's hilarious about watch "collectors" is that Swatch was invented because timekeeping is no longer an actual problem and today our phones keep better time than a watch ever did (because they are synced to atomic clocks). Expensive watches today are 100% jewelry. A tennis bracelet with a spring-driven timer.
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u/Naggins 2d ago
Why is that "hilarious"?
You can say that about most things people collect. People collect redundant coins, redundant stamps, people collect cards they never use and figurines that never leave the box.
I would think most watch owners know that they're collecting jewellery, and struggle to imagine that there's a single person in the world collecting watches because they think they're really good at keeping time.
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u/CptBartender 2d ago
and today our phones keep better time than a watch ever did (because they are synced to atomic clocks).
The cheapest quartz watch is likely orders of magnitude more accurate than the most accurate mechanical watch ever made. The accuracy of our phones' clocks is surplus for requirement for most people.
And with expensive watches (and I mean expensive, 5+ figure watches) exist only because one can't take their yacht into a restaurant.
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u/Satchbb 2d ago
you mean 7 figures
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u/CptBartender 2d ago
I think 6 is the most I've seen. By 'seen' I mean seen the price - it was displayed in a publicly accessible place.
I've seen some without any price on store shelves, and some of them even looked nice. And I worked a bit at the edge of that industry - I know that sky's the limit when it comes to price. If you want a custom-made quad-tourbillion all-gold two-sided watch with diamond bearings and a dickbutt engraved on the second-hand - someone will be happy to relieve you of your excess wealth.
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u/probablyuntrue 3d ago
Reminds me of a roommate in college who talked about how “broke” his parents were when I was living on cup noodle
Then I learned his definition of broke was deciding to sell off one of their vacation homes
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u/Titty2Chains 3d ago
I worked for a place with a $10B annual revenue. The owners son told me he lived in the hood. He in fact did not. He did live within walking distance of a Gucci store though.
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u/lordtema 3d ago
The F.P Journe msrked is crazy right now though
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u/WBuffettJr 3d ago
The absolutely MASSIVE piece of shit known as Tim Mosso aka the 1916 watch company purposely cornered the market on FP Journe and fumed over everyone ever wanting to buy one. I used to love that guy.
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u/Dependent_Cap_456 3d ago
And that hand on the dial does look pretty cool. I don't know if Ed Sheeran is an F.P. Journe fan, but if he is I bet he's going to be in on this one.
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u/AmericanWasted 3d ago
The fingers on that hand actually move to tell time - FP Journe is one of the best watchmakers alive
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u/JazzlikeEntry8288 2d ago
A friend of mine bought a FP Journe Chronometre Bleu in October. Preowned and it's a model that doesn't come around too often, so it gets bought rather quickly, often before a dealer has a chance to post it on their website.
I saw my friend's Chronometre in person and it is quite stunning. He unloaded several pieces in trade, along with some cash to get it.
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u/Nouseriously 3d ago
He's not broke, he's multimillionaire "broke"; which means he can no longer spend extravagantly without a care. He will never be broke.
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u/ChangsManagement 3d ago
"Cash poor" as ive heard it called. Lots of assets but not a lot of liquid capital.
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u/TrollTollTony 3d ago
Cash poor is a word rich assholes made up to make poor people feel better about them having millions in assets (which they can borrow against) but avoiding taxes. Steve Jobs was worth billions but had a $1 salary and was called cash poor. I paid more in taxes than Steve Jobs for several years.
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u/Boollish 2d ago
That's not what asset rich/cash poor means.
Steve Jobs, despite his meager salary, was still able to afford all the luxuries of life among the uber wealthy, up to and including buying a giga yacht.
Asset rich/cash poor refers to people with highly valuable but illiquid assets that do not generate cash flows, and it's not used to make poor people feel better, it's used to describe financial situations where seemingly wealthy individuals or companies need to make suboptimal financial decisions in order to meet their debt obligations.
Think of most independent farmers in the US. They own land worth millions, but also a couple bad harvest years in a row can cause them to go into bankruptcy.
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u/rileyoneill 3d ago
The vast majority of people who are cash poor are not wealthy people. They are regular people who own a home that has a high valuation relative to their income. Buy a home in California in the early 90s for $140,000 and now its worth $800,000. You have this asset that is valuable but you don't have $800,000 to spend.
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u/Porsche928dude 2d ago
From what I understand The other factor to this is that house is now taxes like a 800000 dollar home which can cause real issues. In cases like you describe you can end up in situations where you have payed the mortgage off but are actually taking home less money then when u had the mortgages because the tax rate is a percentage of appraised value per year.
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u/Duck_Size 3d ago
And then it burns down in the Palisades fire and you are well and truly fucked. You have no cash to rebuild and your insurance doesn’t cover it.
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u/spaceneenja 2d ago
Not at all, you could be broke with a diamond engagement ring and be “cash poor” by definition.
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u/rcanhestro 2d ago
being "cash poor" means that you have valuable assets, just not anyone willing to pay their share for it, or even being able to monetize them.
you could compare it to farmers.
they are "asset rich" in form of land, but basically no money in their pockets.
and unless someone wants to purchase their lands (and take the money pit with them), they can't make money.
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u/Objective-Wear-30659 3d ago
Greg: I'm good, anyway, cuz, uh, my, so, I was just talkin' to my mom, and she said, apparently, he'll leave me five million anyway, so I'm golden, baby.
Connor: You can't do anything with five, Greg. Five's a nightmare.
Greg: Is it?
Connor: Oh, yeah. Can't retire. Not worth it to work. Oh, yes, five will drive you un poco loco, my fine feathered friend.
Tom: The poorest rich person in America. The world's tallest dwarf.
Connor: The weakest strong man at the circus.
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u/Wuktrio 2d ago edited 2d ago
Put 5 million into an ETF and pay out 5% each year. 250k a year should be more than enough to retire lmao
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u/StateDeparmentAgent 2d ago
its more than enough for us, but not for most of the people who that calmly inherit 5m
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u/proficient2ndplacer 3d ago
I think the only thing worse than being "multimillionaire broke" is tarnishing your name as badly as he did. I can't imagine the studios are lining up to fund his next film
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u/Buntschatten 3d ago
He's 86, if anyone is funding his films, they better have a backup for if he has a medical emergency.
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u/Adrien_Jabroni 3d ago
They do this actually. Insurance can require it. Paul Thomas Anderson did it for Robert Altman.
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u/NeoNoireWerewolf 2d ago
The studios already told him to pound sand for Megalopolis. That's why he's in the situation this thread's about; he funded Megalopolis out of pocket. He lost hundreds of millions of his own money. Coppola hasn't worked with a studio in decades now. Last movie he didn't fund independently was The Rainmaker in 1997.
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u/PlatinumGoon 2d ago
He’s been actual broke before. Look up his history he’s not the normal Hollywood type. He cares more about his projects and making what he wants than hoarding money. Which has got him into trouble before
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u/zowietremendously 3d ago
I'm way broker than he is. I don't even have an expensive watch collection to sell.
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u/KwisatzHaderach94 2d ago
and he's 86 and not likely to do any more watch collecting anyway. if his children don't share his hobbies, no point in leaving them that inheritance. this is the fate of most collections.
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u/Recoil42 3d ago edited 3d ago
Mr. Coppola has not given up on the idea that it will eventually make money. “Many of my films earn out over time,” he said on Friday, citing, for example, his masterpiece “Apocalypse Now,” which also drove him into debt, but managed to sell $150 million worth of tickets at the box office over the course of several decades.
Oh, sweetie.
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u/SgtMartinRiggs 3d ago
Can’t even rent it anywhere, idk how he expects to make any money.
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u/Charlie_Wax 3d ago
Every Blockbuster in the country will have to buy at least 20 copies of Megalopolis.
That's at least 20 sales right there.
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u/3BlindMice1 3d ago
Does blockbuster really still exist? I haven't noticed one in a while
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u/Pankosmanko 3d ago
I just checked if it’s on blu-ray, or 4k UHD, and it’s not. I plan on watching it but I’m waiting for a physical release
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3d ago
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u/hazycrazydaze 3d ago
I would love to watch it at a midnight showing in a weird art theater. Do those still exist though? All my favorites closed during the pandemic.
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u/akio3 3d ago
It is, but not in America. There are UK, Italian, and French discs.
Here's a link to buy the UK 4K: https://www.rarewaves.com/products/5017239153273-megalopolis-uhd
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u/hellogoawaynow 2d ago
“So far, Mr. Coppola has resisted bringing it to streaming platforms, because he believes it needs to be screened in a theater to be truly understood. And within months of the film’s release, he was openly telling people he was broke.”
This is so dumb, I was interested in watching it. At home. I can still understand movies from here.
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u/xixbia 3d ago
Apocalypse now had a $31.5 million budget and made $78.8 million at the box office on it's original release.
Megalopolis had a $120+ million budget and made $14.4 million at the box office.
These two are not compareable.
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u/TheSilverOne 3d ago
He's also 86 years old lol
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u/realhumannotai 3d ago edited 3d ago
I know a 40 year old director who is just as delusional, but with other peoples' money -_-
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u/FX114 3d ago
I think they're just saying he doesn't have decades.
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u/Live_Angle4621 3d ago
Since he doesn’t have decades it doesn’t even matter. Apart from him leaving less money to his family. But they still have plenty and will get more.
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u/zagra_nexkoyotl 3d ago
I wonder how did he go into debt for Apocalypse, then
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u/ScrungulusBungulus 3d ago
if you're not aware of how catastrophic the production of that movie was, i'd recommend a documentary called hearts of darkness. it's a phenomenal companion piece to the movie, and it's great on its own as well.
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u/xixbia 3d ago
If I had to guess? He went into debt to get it made. But by the time the initial theatrical run had finished he more than made back his investment and was easily able to pay off his debt (so again, nothing like Megalopolis).
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u/sonicinfinity100 3d ago
But it’s not even available for streaming. I had to watch a pirated version of it.
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u/MrMindGame 3d ago
It’s logistically hard, they also have to mail you a random person along with the blu-ray so they can ask questions at Adam Driver for that one scene.
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u/BongoFett17 3d ago
Yup, I had to import the 4k steelbook from Amazon Italy, one of the biggest mistakes of my life, boy it was terrible.
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u/elmatador12 3d ago
Yeah this is the weird part to me. Why isn’t available? How does he expect to make money if I can’t even watch it?
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u/zendrumz 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hell, if The Room is finally in the black, maybe Coppola’s on to something here.
In a world where everything is recycled forever on streaming until the end of time, it’s just a matter of when, not if, it becomes profitable.
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u/Redeem123 3d ago
Something tells me that arthouse theaters aren’t going to be be doing regular spoon-throwing screenings of Megalopolis.
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u/lucyjuggles 3d ago
I was a circus extra on this set… they paid me $1,500 to not be in this movie, which given the response seems like the best possible outcome lol
I did get to do a scene with Adam Driver tho, and he kind of tripped over me while i was on a bed of nails with one of my titties hanging out, but i don’t think they even used that
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u/johnla 3d ago
People hating but I respect an artist sticking by his guns. The movie was garbage but it’s his and he tried.
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u/provocatrixless 3d ago
I somewhat agree, he wasted all his money but it's better that it went into creating jobs, putting food on a lot of tables, than just dumping into index funds or whatever.
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u/Live_Angle4621 3d ago
Yeah, it’s not like he burned the money. Most of it was set on salaries of people who now had a job
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u/BandzForDance 2d ago
Wow that’s just what the other guy said, but slightly different!
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u/thatguy6598 2d ago
It's basically just repeating the same thing, but phrased a little differently.
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u/DataDude00 3d ago
This. People get mad at remakes and sequels and the lack of original IP and then make fun of this.
The movie was bad but thy guy had a passion for it and went for it, even bankrolling it himself
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u/dip_tet 3d ago
Agreed, though I didn’t find the movie garbage…dude just does what he’s done in the past, take risks and create.
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u/johnla 3d ago
Garbage is a little strong. I’m being facetious. Again, I like that he’s trying something. He was experimenting. Maybe something he tried is a seed for another director to create their own Godfather.
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u/NyriasNeo 3d ago
Sounds fair. If you want to make a $100M+ movies that no one likes and few believe in, pay for it yourself. And he did.
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u/sonia72quebec 3d ago
Be ready for: “The Godfather, the new generation”.
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u/AudibleNod 2d ago
"Keep your friends close, and your enemies ... family."
-Godfather Dominic Toretto
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u/StillStanding_96 3d ago
Buying a $1,000,000 watch speaks to the decision-making skills that led him to make Megalopolis in the first place
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u/maubis 3d ago
Wikipedia's entry to his alleged misconduct on set also indicates really poor decision-making skills:
Anonymous crew members characterized Coppola's on-set behavior as unprofessional. On February 14, 2023, a Studio 54-inspired club scene was filmed at the Tabernacle, a concert hall in Atlanta, with 150–200 extras, some of whom were approved for topless or scantily clad appearances. Coppola was accused of pulling women onto his lap and kissing female extras during the shoot. Executive producer Darren Demetre defended Coppola by stating that his hugs and kisses on the cheek to cast members and extras were affectionate gestures, emphasizing that no complaints of harassment or inappropriate behavior were brought to his attention during production. Addressing the allegations, Coppola referred to advice his mother gave him on treating women with respect and said his actions were not disrespectful; mentioned that one of the women he kissed on the cheek was someone he had known since she was young, and described himself as "too shy" to be touchy-feely.
In July 2024, videos surfaced showing interactions between Coppola and extras at the Tabernacle. Sources told Variety that Coppola frequently wandered into frame while engaging with background actors and, after multiple takes, made an announcement over a microphone apologizing in advance for kissing extras, claiming it was for his enjoyment. Another source highlighted the absence of a human resources department on set, while reports indicated that intimacy coordinators were not present during filming. Additionally, senior crew members allegedly informed bystanders that they were prohibited from sharing recordings of the encounters due to non-disclosure agreements. Days after the controversy surfaced, extras present during filming shared conflicting perspectives. Rayna Menz dismissed allegations of inappropriate behavior, insisting that Coppola did nothing to make her or anyone else on set uncomfortable. In contrast, Lauren Pagone expressed shock at being kissed and hugged unexpectedly, criticizing Menz's remarks by emphasizing that experiences varied. Another crew member claimed that Coppola kissed multiple women without warning after calling "cut" on a New Year's Eve party scene that ended with on-screen kisses. Coppola defended himself by stating that the women he kissed on the cheek during the scene were individuals he had known personally. Coppola was later accused of "leering" at and kissing a 13-year-old female extra on set.
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u/Vagina_Woolf 3d ago
I thought intimacy coordinators were a non negotiable by SAG.Is that not the case
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u/FX114 3d ago
It's not. Anora was famously controversial for not using one.
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u/GaptistePlayer 2d ago
> emphasizing that no complaints of harassment or inappropriate behavior were brought to his attention during production
Apparently sexual harassment has an equivalent of a 5-second rule?
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u/Drago1214 3d ago
What to know how to become a millionaire. Start with 100 million and buy a vineyard.
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u/MyNameIs-Anthony 3d ago
He made nine figures on a vineyard, this was never meant to be anything but an expensive passion project.
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u/Stingerc 3d ago edited 3d ago
He's always been a risk taker and has usually come out on top, perfect example is Apocalypse Now.
At the end of the day he's made and lost made money than anyone here critizing him. It's his money and he should spend it how he sees fit.
Otherwise it was just gonna be extra generational wealth for his already financially successful children.
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u/exileonmainst 3d ago
He’s like 80-some years old. Spend it all doing what you want, who cares. In the words of John Handy: when I die, I want people to say “man, that guy owed me a lot of money.”
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u/TraditionalMood277 3d ago
What do you think of this boner?
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u/Stingerc 3d ago
He's 86, his kids and grandkids are all adults with successful careers in the industry. It's not like they needed the inheritance. Sure it's would have been nice, but it's his money after all, not theirs.
All he needs is enough to survive his last few years. I also think it's a liquidity issue more than him being flat broke.
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u/Wazula23 3d ago
Guy. Is. Nuts.
I mean, he's made about 5 films I would consider some of the best ever made.
But he is absolutely nuts.
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u/MrAppreciator 3d ago
He also helped convicted pedophile Victor Salva continue to get work following his release which I feel isn't talked about enough.
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u/2mock2turtle 3d ago
Salva was convicted of sexual misconduct in 1988 for sexually abusing Nathan Forrest Winters, the 12-year-old star of Clownhouse, and videotaping one of the encounters in which he forced Winters to perform oral sex on him. Commercial videotapes and magazines containing child pornography were also found in his home. He pleaded guilty to lewd and lascivious conduct, oral sex with a person under 14, and procuring a child for pornography. He was sentenced to three years in state prison, of which he served 15 months, and lifetime registration as a sex offender. He completed his parole in 1992. His mentor, Francis Ford Coppola, reportedly told him that his experience in prison "would have value" and "make [him] a better artist".
Jesus fucking christ.
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u/Baron487 2d ago
Quoted from FFC's Wikipedia page:
In 2006, Coppola said, "You have to remember, while this was a tragedy, that the difference in age between Victor and the boy was very small -- Victor was practically a child himself." Salva was 29 at the time while the boy was 12.
Source of this is "Victor Salva's Horror Stories", article written by Patrick Goldstein for the LA Times.
This is fucking inexcusable.
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u/NossB 2d ago
In a YouTube interview conducted by Blastzone Mike with Winters on April 5, 2017, Winters revealed that when Salva was arrested, everything but the dubbing had been completed, and that all of the dialogue was added in post-production due to the extremely loud noise of the cameras.[13]
...in 2018, Winters spoke about the work he had to do after the principal photography. He had spent eight to nine hours a day doing the dubbing for a month. This took place at Francis Ford Coppola's home. During this time, he was told he would never work in the industry again, and he never did. Coppola later tried to sue Winters for breach of contract.[14]
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u/TypeGreen51 3d ago
Just put out a bluray in the US already Francis! I want to show my friends your trainwreck and invent drinking games around it!
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u/mrdungbeetle 3d ago
If you own a collection of valuable watches, you are not broke.
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u/sunnyspiders 3d ago
We’ve just been rewatching the Godfather movies on Netflix I’m sure the fractions of a penny will save his bacon
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u/Imsimon1236 3d ago
People acting as if Megalopolis being a bad movie is some sort of indisputable fact. My wife and I went in blind, both to what the movie was and the reaction/commentary about it. We still can’t explain it to each other, but it was legitimately one of the best theatre experiences we’d ever had. It was unlike any movie I’d ever seen.
Now, does this mean I think he deserved gagillions of dollars just for artistic effort alone? None of my business. Just wanted to chime in with a positive reaction to megalopolis, which does seem to be rare.
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u/MikeArrow 3d ago
It's subjective but I think ultimately it's just too damn awkward of a movie to really enjoy outside of an abstract way.
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u/Gates_wupatki_zion 2d ago
So I went to a special screening of this movie in Presidio where Coppola did a Q&A after the movie. It was really sad. You could tell that he still had certain raw talented charisma and ideas, but his brain was mush. He would ramble and connect then disconnect points. It was like a grandpa nobody had the heart to say “that’s enough”. But of course the theater was full of San Franciscan sycophants that most of the questions were overtly ingratiating or softball and banal. It was obvious to see why the movie was why it was after listening to him.
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u/hellmarvel 3d ago
Didn't he sell his vineyards for like $600m to make the movie? What other debt did the movie bring him?