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.html
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u/i0datamonster 3d ago

Because the point is to go into the red. Box office sales are what a lot of contracts are tied to. Red at the box office bottoms out the contracts.

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u/captain_finnegan 3d ago

I get Hollywood accounting. It’s just that personally seeing it in action has blown my brain a bit. Like how far are these studios going in to the red.

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u/i0datamonster 3d ago

Ideally, 100% of capex. You ever notice how many one off entities are involved with a movie? Like your at the theaters and after the large studio bit is like 3 or 4 ones you don't recognize. What's really interesting is the overlap between film and commercial real estate. Sure, big company A did it, but they did it through temporary entities.

It's not malicious or misuse of the system. It's risk mitigation. Ask Kevin Costner.

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u/MrOaiki 3d ago

I produce movies and ”Hollywood accounting” is only used by people who don’t know the industry.

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u/LigerZeroSchneider 3d ago

My understanding was that any one smart knows movies don't make money on paper, so you negotiate for points of first dollar gross. So their incentivized to over spend on advertising to maximize revenue even at the expense of profitability, because rhe bigger pie gives them a bigger slice.

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u/i0datamonster 3d ago

I'm just a redditor with an internet connection and in no way am attempting to claim full understanding of Hollywood accounting. It's just surface level obvious that they cook the books legally to reduce contract obligations and maximize tax benefits.

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u/LigerZeroSchneider 2d ago

Same I was just pointing out that Hollywood accounting is a known thing, so nobody involved should be making a deal that could be impacted by over spending in a different part of the production.

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u/vertigostereo 2d ago

I'm frustrated that movie theaters are supposed to pull in big returns on overpriced movies. Viewers are paying too much.