How Much Money Did Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis Lose?

Francis Ford Coppola has made some of the most cherished cinematic classics in history, from "The Godfather" to "Apocalypse Now." His long-awaited, wildly ambitious passion project "Megalopolis" finally arrived last year, and though it was the fulfillment of a longstanding dream, it lost Coppola a fortune. Just how much money did it lose, though? Without being able to put a precise number on it, we can confidently say "a lot."

After trying to get the movie made for years, Coppola famously self-financed "Megalopolis," which reportedly came with a budget of at least $120 million. It was a star-studded affair led by Adam Driver ("Star Wars: The Force Awakens"), with Lionsgate releasing the final product in theaters. It didn't go well.

Coppola's Roman-inspired epic set in a fictional version of future America about a genius artist who hopes to bring forth an idealistic future absolutely tanked. "Megalopolis" opened to just $4 million at the box office, going down as not only one of the biggest bombs of 2024, but perhaps one of the biggest of all time. The movie has only made $14.4 million worldwide to date. 

To get Lionsgate to sign on as a distributor, Coppola also agreed to fund the marketing budget, said to be between $15 and $20 million. All in, even if we're being generous, the total investment to make the movie was at least $135 million. Lionsgate got a cut of the box office as well, meaning Coppola's slice of that already-small pie was even smaller. In short, he's conservatively in the hole by tens of millions of dollars.

"Megalopolis" was briefly available on VOD, but is nearly impossible to watch now. Coppola has been touring the movie around, which has perhaps chipped away at the deficit — albeit slightly.

Coppola hasn't revealed precisely how much money he lost on "Megalopolis," so the best we can do is run some rough numbers based on how profit/loss box office math is generally calculated. Roughly speaking, theaters keep around half of the money made from ticket sales. In this case, that would be $7.2 million. That leaves $7.2 million from the theatrical run, which Lionsgate gets a cut of.

Without knowing Lionsgate's take, let's just say for the sake of argument Coppola and the production recouped $5 million from ticket sales. That leaves at least a $130 million hole to climb out of after production and marketing expenses are factored in. This is where things get especially tricky because hard numbers for post-theatrical revenue aren't available, but the numbers we do have aren't kind.

"Megalopolis" was briefly made available to rent on VOD before being pulled from digital storefronts such as iTunes and Apple TV. As reported by IndieWire in November 2024, the film failed to chart on iTunes or Fandango, meaning it didn't appear to be a big draw during its brief digital home video window. While DVD and Blu-ray aren't totally dead, sales of physical media aren't what they used to be, though they're big with the collector market. Even so, Coppola has yet to officially release the film on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD, believing it needs to be viewed in a theater.

All of this to say, there is little other revenue to speak of. Even if we're being very generous with what the movie has pulled in on VOD, during Coppola's touring screenings, and through other revenue streams, the math would tell you that it has lost at least $100 million at this point — a massive loss.

"I don't have any money because I invested all the money that I borrowed to make Megalopolis," Coppola said on the "Tetragrammaton" podcast. "It's basically gone. I think it'll come back over 15 or 20 years."

Indeed, one of the benefits of Coppola self-funding the movie is that he will benefit from whatever revenue it brings in perpetuity. Unfortunately, with the box office on increasingly uncertain ground, theatrical re-releases are unlikely to help much. A streaming deal, a physical media release, VOD, etc., will be relied upon to help make up the difference.

More recently, Coppola has been making financial moves to recover some of the losses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he recently sold his private island in Belize for $1.8 million. He'd already sold stakes in several wineries to help fund "Megalopolis."

In October, the New York Times reported that Coppola was auctioning off several expensive watches from his personal collection, including a custom prototype dubbed the FFC that was made in collaboration with F.P. Journe in 2014. The watch is expected to fetch at least $1 million when the auction takes place in December.

"I need to get some money to keep the ship afloat," Coppola said to the Times about the decision to sell his watches. He's also selling two Patek Philippes, a Blancpain Minute Repeater, an IWC Chronograph, another F.P. Journe, and a Breguet Classique. The values vary wildly from as little as $3,000 to as much as $240,000.

"My children, without exception, have wonderful careers without a fortune. We are fine. It doesn't matter," Coppola said at Cannes in 2024 (per THR). "All of you here: The money doesn't matter." It's a nice message, but in 2025, he clearly needs some money.