Francis Ford Coppola Selling Million-Dollar Watch to Recoup Megalopolis Losses

"It's no secret that 2024's Megalopolis, Coppola's long-gestating pet project, was a bona fide financial bust. After the iconic director poured in $120 million of his own money (a combination of various personal assets alongside a majority stake in the Delicato Family Wines), Megalopolis earned just $14.4 million at the box office. Now, in hopes of recouping a portion of the small fortune that'd devastate anyone else, Coppola has tapped New York City auction house Phillips to sell seven singular timepieces (per The Hollywood Reporter)."

"With the auction set for December 6th and 7th in New York City, the undisputed crown jewel of the so-called "Coppola Collection" is the F.P. Journe FCC Prototype. According to Phillips' own Paul Boutros, Coppola worked hand-in-hand with famed watchmaker Francis-Paul Journe to craft this watch. Perhaps its most dazzling feature is its "black-treated titanium hand," which was developed over the span of nearly a decade's worth of conversations between Journe/his staff and Coppola."

"The hand (which draws inspiration a 16th century prosthetic crafted by French physician Ambroise Paré) tells the time via "the fingers and thumb extending or retracting in a set of sequences that indicate different hours." Meanwhile, the minutes are "determined by a white rotating ring around the perimeter." It's one of only three versions ever made by Journe, with the last watch selling at a 2021 charity auction for 4.5 million Swiss francs."

Francis Ford Coppola invested $120 million of personal assets, including a majority stake in Delicato Family Wines, into the 2024 film Megalopolis, which earned $14.4 million. Coppola has consigned seven singular timepieces to Phillips for auction on December 6th and 7th in New York City to recoup part of the financial loss. The centerpiece is an F.P. Journe FCC Prototype created in collaboration with Francis-Paul Journe, featuring a black-treated titanium hand developed over nearly a decade. The prosthetic-inspired hand indicates hours via extending fingers and thumb while minutes read on a white rotating perimeter ring. The prototype is one of three, with a previous sale reaching 4.5 million Swiss francs.

Read at Consequence