Francis Ford Coppola Required to Offer His Custom-made $1 Million Watch After ‘Megalopolis’ Fiasco

In the 2025 documentary Megadoc, an appearance behind the scenes of Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary– however much-maligned– Megalopolis, the famous director holds himself completely responsible for the success or failure of the 2024 dystopian movie, which was understood to all in Hollywood as his enthusiasm task and which he self-financed at an approximated expense of $120 million (the movie eventually earned just $14.4 million). In one interview with Megadoc director Mike Figgis, Coppola discusses French director Jacques Tati, well known for directing Mon Oncle, the 1959 Oscar winner for finest foreign language movie, however who passed away in hardship in 1982. To Coppola, Tati is one example of the art mattering more than monetary success, he states. “Who cares if you passed away broke, if you made something you believe is stunning?”.

Coppola waits that declaration, even as he thinks he has actually discovered his own method to recover a part of the cash he lost on Megalopolis, which originated from both his individual cost savings and from offering a bulk stake of his white wine service to California-based Delicato Household Red Wines. On Dec. 6 and 7 in New York City City, auction home Phillips will provide a sale of 7 status wrist watches from Coppola’s collection, consisting of an unique watch that was another enthusiasm task in between the director and independent watchmaker François-Paul Journe, a rock star in deep space of high-end wrist watches.

Amongst Coppola’s 7 watches in the New york city sale is the F.P. Journe FFC Model, an unique watch that began as an idea from the filmmaker to the watchmaker throughout a supper at Coppola’s Napa Valley home in 2012. “Coppola asked Journe whether in all of human history a wrist watch had actually been used a hand to suggest the time,” discusses Paul Boutros, deputy chairman and head of watches, Americas, for Phillips. “That resulted in a continuous discussion as they collaborated to determine how a hand could be utilized to suggest 12 hours; how do you get 12 digits out of 5 fingers?”.

9 years and lots of discussions later on, Journe provided Coppola with the ended up watch, at approximately the exact same time shooting for Megalopolis was getting underway in 2021. The F.P. Journe FCC Model certainly includes a black-treated titanium hand– motivated by a 16th-century prosthetic style by French cosmetic surgeon Ambroise Paré– which informs the time by means of the fingers and thumb extending or pulling back in a set of series that suggest various hours, while the minutes are identified by a white turning ring around the open-work dial’s border, all set in a 42mm platinum case. Journe made a comparable Model expect himself, while a 3rd was crafted with a blue titanium hand and consisted of in the 2021 Just See auction for charity, where it brought 4.5 million Swiss francs. Journe has actually given that offered a little number of a production variation of the Model watch to personal customers for approximately $1 million each.

That latter number ended up being the basis for the quote of Coppola’s watch, which the filmmaker used when Megalopolis premiered at Cannes in Might 2024. “We priced it in line with what the market price would be if somebody shopped a brand-new piece,” Boutros informs The Hollywood Press Reporter. “We do not understand how the marketplace will price [Coppola’s watch], so we embraced the exact same technique when we offered Paul Newman’s Paul Newman[Rolex] We’re going to let the marketplace choose, however we understand it deserves a minimum of $1 million.” Newman’s 1968 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona cost Phillips in 2017 for $17.8 million, setting a record for a classic watch that has actually not yet been broken.

The other special component about this sale is that it includes Journe’s stamp of approval. “Consulting with Francis in 2012 and hearing his concept on using a human hand to suggest time motivated me to produce a watch I never ever might have envisioned myself,” Journe stated in a declaration launched by Phillips. “The obstacle was powerful– precisely the kind of watchmaking task I love. After years of teaming up straight with Francis in the advancement procedure, it was an excellent satisfaction to provide this FFC model to him in 2021. I’m happy to completely support the sale of this watch through Phillips to money the development of his creative work of arts in filmmaking.”

” He does not like it when customers offer their wrist watches, however he comprehends what this is everything about,” Boutros includes. “Like Coppola, François-Paul is an artist, he takes opportunities, and in some cases he goes all in when pursuing his craft. Because method they are quite alike. Still, having the assistance of the watchmaker [in a sale] is an uncommon thing.”

Part of a series of occasions to commemorate Phillips’ 10th anniversary, Coppola’s sale of 7 watches consists of another F.P. Journe, the Chronomètre à Résonance, a Christmas present to the filmmaker from his better half, Eleanor Coppola, who passed away in 2024. An ad for the Résonance, which Francis Ford Coppola conserved and was later on discovered by his better half, resulting in the present, accompanies the watch, Boutros states. “They were wed for 62 years, and he discussed her while we remained in Rome together shooting a video about the sale,” Boutros notes. “It’s clear that he misses her. However what likewise comes through is his genuineness and his stability. He’s so down to earth, so simple, so kind.” The Résonance’s auction quote is $120,000 to $240,000.

The staying 5 watches in the Coppola sale consist of a Patek Philippe World Time ref. 5130G, approximated to cost in between $15,000 to $30,000; a Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 3919, which brings a price quote of $6,000 to $12,000; and a Blancpain Minute Repeater approximated to cost $15,000 to $30,000. 2 watches, on the other hand, bring no reserve, which Boutros notes might be a chance for growing collectors: a Breguet Classique ref. 5140, which is approximated in between $4,000 to $8,000, and an IWC Portugieser, which brings a no-reserve quote of $3,000 to $6,000. All watches will be on screen at Phillips’ New york city display room Dec. 3 through 5.

The distinctive watch and its backstory aside, what does this group of pieces state about Coppola’s gathering design? “He’s an individual who enjoys to protect history, and we saw that currently with the years he invested attempting to piece his winery back together,” Boutros states. “He began falling for watches in 2008 or 2009, and from the start he looked for enjoys the used an abundant history. He enjoys the history of Abraham-Louis Breguet making the very first watch in the 1770s and 1780s, or Blancpain’s style for an excellent chiming system. He’s constantly been extremely clever in purchasing designs with an excellent historic past. That truly interested him.”

In general it’s a reputable group, with a set of icons at its center– both the Model watch and its owner, that is. However simply as Coppola talked about with Figgis in Megadoc, he is entirely practical about this choice. ‘He is attempting to raise funds to balance out some financial obligation,'” Boutros states. “That’s the truth of life, and he’s somebody who goes all in and puts whatever on the line. You need to appreciate that.”