Francis Ford Coppola is selling the $1 million watch he co-created, as well as several timepieces from his collection, following the disappointing performance of his largely self-funded 2024 film, Megalopolis.
Coppola, who won Worst Director at the Razzies for the movie, is said to be selling the timepieces after going “broke” financing the project himself — reportedly putting up $120 million from his own pocket.
“I need to get some money to keep the ship afloat,” he said via a Zoom call last week, according to the New York Times.
Per The Times, seven luxury watches from Coppola’s collection — including the million-dollar FFC Prototype he co-created with Swiss watch company F.P. Journe — will be auctioned on December 6 and 7 in New York City at Phillips.
Among the other watches up for sale are high-end pieces from Patek Philippe, Blancpain, IWC, F.P. Journe, and Breguet, with estimated prices ranging from $3,000 to $240,000.
“We priced it in line with what the retail price would be if someone tried to buy a new piece,” Paul Boutros, deputy chairman and head of watches, Americas, for Phillips, told The Hollywood Reporter. “We don’t know how the market will price [Coppola’s watch], so we adopted the same strategy when we sold Paul Newman’s Paul Newman [Rolex]. We’re going to let the market decide, but we know it’s worth at least $1 million.”
He added that Coppola is basically trying to raise funds to offset some debt. "That’s the reality of life, and he’s someone who goes all in and puts everything on the line. You have to respect that," Boutros said.
Megalopolis earned an underwhelming $14.4 million at the box office, with the funding coming from Coppola’s personal savings and the sale of a majority stake in his wine business Delicato Family Wines.
Within months of the film’s release, he was openly telling people he was broke after making the movie. Because of Coppola's belief that the movie needs to be seen only in theaters for an optimal viewing experience, the movie has not yet been brought to streaming platforms.
During a March conversation with Rick Rubin on the Tetragrammaton podcast, Coppola talked about his finances, saying, “It’s basically gone.”
“I don’t have any money because I invested all the money that I borrowed to make Megalopolis,” he explained. “I think it'll come back over 15, 20 years, but I don't have it now.”