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Hollywood insiders are in stitches over The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola's remark after his $100 million movie flopped at the box office. Coppola pumped an eye-popping $120 million of his own money into the 2024 blockbuster, Megalopolis, which ultimately only grossed $14.3 million globally. Even with the film’s disappointing revenue, Coppola said he remains optimistic, noting to the New York Times that 'many of [his] films earn out over time.' In response, Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni placed the director's remark as 'runner-up' in his 'quotes of the week' for his Puck newsletter. 'Francis Ford Coppola, in an interview promoting an auction of his watches, hilariously insisting that Megalopolis could eventually become profitable,' Belloni wrote. 'The largely self-financed feature cost more than $120 million and grossed $14.4 million worldwide.' Within the first few months of the multi-million dollar movie's release, Coppola was openly telling people he was 'broke' because of it. 'I don’t have any money because I invested all the money, that I borrowed, to make ‘Megalopolis,’ the 86-year-old filmmaker told music producer Rick Rubin on the 'Tetragrammaton' podcast in March. 'It's basically gone.' Coppola also told the Times he needs to start racking up money to 'keep the ship afloat.' Coppola is now auctioning off his beloved watches to make ends meet, including a $1 million item that he had designed himself. His prized possessions are being sold through auction house Phillips, and the most luxurious watch as part of the auction is one he co-designed with renowned watchmaker François-Paul Journe. The million dollar one-of-a-kind piece is the FP Journe FFC Prototype and features a black titanium human-like hand, of which the fingers and thumb extend or retract to indicate different hours. His watches will be presented for sale in New York City on December 6 and 7. Fans have since called the Hollywood legend's cash-related remark 'hilarious,' claiming that if Coppola has a million-dollar watch to sell, he is far from 'broke.' 'If ya have a million $ watch collection.. you’re NOT broke,' one X user quipped. 'I'm thinking "broke" is a relative term in Hollywood,' another wrote. Coppola referred to his famous movie Apocalypse now when he discussed his films 'earn out over time.' The classic film, which was a self funded gamble, has gone on to sell millions of movie tickets. The blockbuster also generated money through sales of physical copies of the film, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. Those viewing methods are either extinct or less profitable, so they won't play a major role in helping his movie flop make more profit. Coppola, for his part, is worth an estimated $400 million. He had spent many years trying to make Megalopolis and financed the movie himself, rather than going through the studio system. He previously insisted he does not consider the film to be any more of a 'passion project' than his other films. 'I think all my films are passion projects. Even when you're doing a film for money, when you get down into the work, you're passionate about it because cinema is something you can't do without loving,' he said, in part. 'This idea of "passion project" is another one of these coined phrases. All making movies is passionate. It cannot not be. It's too exciting.
