“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.