Francis Ford Coppola has directed some of the best movies in cinematic history, and while that’s brought him financial success at times, his lowest-grossing movies standings have changed with Megalopolis. The Godfather helped establish Coppola as one of Hollywood’s biggest talents behind the camera, and the mob crime movie proved he also had plenty of pull with audiences at the cinema. The Godfather‘s $243 million box office haul suggested that he’d have plenty of other major financial hits, but with his proclivity for risky projects, big budgets, and clashing with studios, that rarely happened after 1974.
Coppola still managed to deliver a hit in Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992, as it is the only other of his movies to make over $200 million worldwide. None of the other Francis Ford Coppola movies made over $100 million (via The Numbers). The reality is that the director has had more big swings and misses at the box office, with some making a minimal amount of money overall and even struggling to get theatrical releases at times. Megalopolis is another example of those struggles, as it has a spot amongst Coppola’s lowest-grossing movies at the box office.
10 Tucker: The Man and His Dream
$19.6 Million
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Tucker: The Man and His Dream PGDrama
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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date August 12, 1988 Cast Jeff Bridges , Joan Allen , Martin Landau , Frederic Forrest , Mako , dean stockwell , Christian Slater , Nina Siemaszko , Marshall Bell , Peter Donat , Elias Koteas , Jay O. Sanders , Corin Nemec , Don Novello , Anders Johnson , Dean Goodman , John X. Heart , Patti Austin , Sandy Bull , Joe Miksak , Scott Beach , Roland Scrivner , Bob Safford , Larry Menkin , Ron Close , Joe Flood , Leonard Gardner , Bill Bonham , Abigail van Alyn , Taylor Gilbert , David Booth , Al Hart , Cab Covay , James Cranna , Bill Reddick , Ed Loerke , Jay Jacobus , Anne Lawder Runtime 110 minutes Expand
In 1988, Coppola teamed up with Jeff Bridges for Tucker: The Man and His Dream to bring Preston Tucker’s true story to life in a comedy/drama biopic. The film had troubled development before George Lucas joined and helped steer it towards completion. Tucker: The Man and His Dream‘s reviews pinpointed it as a strong outing from Coppola and Bridges, earning it an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes nowadays.
Related 10 Times Legendary Movie Directors Made Huge Box Office Bombs, From Francis Ford Coppola To Steven Spielberg
Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has proven that not even the most legendary filmmakers in the world are immune to the occasional box office bomb.
However, Tucker: The Man and His Dreams only made $19.6 million during its theatrical run. This was after making only $3.7 million in its opening weekend across 720 theaters. With a reported budget of only $24 million, the movie did not have lofty box office heights it needed to hit. Tucker: The Man and His Dream still failed to make its budget back or turn a profit, making it one of Coppola’s lowest-grossing movies decades later.
9 Finian’s Rainbow
$11.6 Million
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Finian’s Rainbow (1968) GFantasyRomance
Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date October 9, 1968 Cast Fred Astaire , Petula Clark , Tommy Steele , Don Francks , Keenan Wynn , Barbara Hancock , Al Freeman Jr. , Ronald Colby , Dolph Sweet , Wright King , Louil Silas , Brenda Arnau , Avon Long , Roy Glenn , Jester Hairston , Charles Carter , Sterling Clark Runtime 145 Minutes Expand
Finian’s Rainbow was the third movie Coppola directed, and only the second to come with a major studio’s backing. Despite the negative review score on Rotten Tomatoes of 53% now, the musical starring Fred Astaire achieved great success after its release – including two Oscar nominations and five Golden Globe nominations. While Warner Bros. was involved with the film’s theatrical release, it did not have a huge push, and it struggled to find an audience as a result.
The final box office total for Finian’s Rainbow is only $11.6 million. This total came entirely from the film’s domestic release. The performance was likely not what WB or Coppola hoped for the fantasy musical, but the budget is believed to have been quite low, which means Finian’s Rainbow may have still turned a profit for the studio and the director at the end of the day.
8 Megalopolis
$10.2 Million
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8/10 8.2/10 Megalopolis DramaSci-Fi
Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date September 27, 2024 Cast Adam Driver , Forest Whitaker , Nathalie Emmanuel , Jon Voight , Laurence Fishburne , Aubrey Plaza , Shia LaBeouf , Jason Schwartzman , Grace VanderWaal , Kathryn Hunter , Talia Shire , Dustin Hoffman , D. B. Sweeney , Giancarlo Esposito Runtime 138 Minutes Expand
Megalopolis‘ final box office numbers might not be official, but the film is assured to retain a spot as one of Francis Ford Coppola’s lowest-grossing movies. Despite the director paying around $150 million overall to get the film made, marketed, and released, the movie was always a passion project for him more than a chance to rediscover success at the box office. That possibility, however unlikely, became even more difficult once reviews dropped. Not even the polarizing nature of its 46% score on Rotten Tomatoes could drive enough interest.
Related How Much Money Francis Ford Coppola Spent To Make Megalopolis
Francis Ford Coppola famously self-financed the production of his ambitious sci-fi epic Megalopolis – but how much of his own money did he spend?
As it currently stands, Megalopolis has made $10.2 million at the box office worldwide (via Box Office Mojo). Megalopolis‘ opening weekend box office only made $4 million, and there has been limited interest internationally throughout its run. This total is despite it being Coppola’s widest release in decades. With showtimes slowing down and bigger new releases coming, Megalopolis‘ total could still climb higher. It might ultimately pass Finian’s Rainbow, but it needs to make over $25 million not to be one of Coppola’s ten lowest-grossing movies.
7 Gardens of Stone
$5.2 Million
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Gardens of Stone (1987) RDramaWarHistory
Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date May 5, 1987 Cast James Caan , Anjelica Huston , James Earl Jones , D.B. Sweeney , dean stockwell , Mary Stuart Masterson , Dick Anthony Williams , Lonette McKee , Sam Bottoms , Elias Koteas , Laurence Fishburne , Casey Siemaszko , Mark Frazer , Peter Masterson , Carlin Glynn , Erik Holland , Bill Graham Runtime 111 Minutes Expand
Francis Ford Coppola returned to exploring war after Apocalypse Now with Gardens of Stone, but the 1987 film did not muster up the same level of excitement as his 1979 epic. Despite coming on the back of a success in Peggy Sue Got Married ($41 million), Gardens of Stone was only given a limited theatrical release. The movie’s box office prospects were further negatively impacted by the film’s mixed reviews, resulting in its current 44% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Gardens of Stone only played in 612 theaters at its widest point of release, and it barely made $1.6 million during its opening weekend as a result. The final tally for the film was $5.2 million, which is substantially below the reported $13.5 million budget (via AFI). The film was a costly loss for Coppola and the studio, but it would have been even greater if not for the United States Army helping out on the production.
6 The Conversation
$4.7 Million
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The Conversation PGDramaCrimeDocumentaryMysteryThriller
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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date April 7, 1974 Cast Gene Hackman , John Cazale , Allen Garfield , Frederic Forrest , Cindy Williams , Michael Higgins Runtime 113 minutes
The Conversation is certainly one of Francis Ford Coppola’s best movies, but it’s also, unfortunately, one of his worst performing at the box office. The film’s performance is surprising, considering it was Coppola’s first movie after The Godfather and starred Gene Hackman. It also had stellar reviews to urge audiences to see the film in theaters, with it currently having a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, so a stronger box office performance than The Conversation‘s $4.4 million gross during its initial release would have been expected.
While the current box office total sits at $4.7 million, The Conversation played in theaters for months and could not find a bigger audience like The Godfather had two years prior. The good news for Coppola is that it still managed to be a box office success story because it only cost $1.6 million to make. It has made nearly three times its budget then, and its cinematic legacy is far greater than the sub-$5 million total would imply.
5 Tetro
$2.9 Million
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Tetro RDrama
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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date June 11, 2009 Cast Vincent Gallo , Maribel Verdú , Alden Ehrenreich , Klaus Maria Brandauer , Carmen Maura , Rodrigo De la Serna Runtime 127 minutes
Tetro is among the lowest-grossing movies Francis Ford Coppola has ever directed. Released in 2009, it only managed to make $518K at the domestic box office during a limited release from Coppola’s distribution company. Its standing in this list is only improved thanks to the $2.3 million it made internationally. That helps it climb up to a box office total of nearly $2.9 million.
However, Tetro is still a financial disappointment for Coppola. Production took place almost entirely in Argentina and reportedly cost $5 million to make. The film’s box office is barely more than half of the reported budget then. Since it never played in more than 15 theaters on any given day domestically, the box office performance of Tetro was always going to be challenging.
4 Youth Without Youth
$2.6 Million
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Youth Without Youth RDramaFantasyMysteryRomanceThriller
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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date October 26, 2007 Cast Tim Roth , Alexandra Maria Lara , Bruno Ganz , André Hennicke , Marcel Iures , Adrian Pintea Runtime 125 minutes
Youth Without Youth might seem like one of Coppola’s biggest misfires of his career when examined on paper. It received poor reviews, as noted by its 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and it only made $2.6 million (according to Box Office Mojo). It did not even manage to make $300,000 domestically during its release, with the majority of its ticket sales coming internationally. And while that does mean it has a place near the bottom of Coppola’s lowest-grossing movies, that isn’t the whole story.
Miraculously, Youth Without Youth managed to make more at the box office than it cost Coppola to make it. He told Rolling Stone in 2024 that he made the movie for less than $1 million. With Sony barely bothering to give the film a domestic release at all – the most theaters it had on a single day of release was 18 – there should not be much of any marketing costs that would elevate the budget substantially.
3 Rumble Fish
$2.5 million
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Rumble Fish RDramaActionCrime
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*Availability in US Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date October 21, 1983 Cast Matt Dillon , Mickey Rourke , Diane Lane , Dennis Hopper , Diana Scarwid , Vincent Spano Runtime 94 minutes
Francis Ford Coppola consistently struggled to follow up his hits over the years, and Rumble Fish is no exception. His second movie of 1983 came out months after The Outsiders and retained stars like Matt Dillon and Diane Lane. Even though Rumble Fish earned strong reviews, it could not match The Outsiders‘ path to success as it made $25 million.
The reality is that Rumble Fish only made $2.5 million at the box office during its run. That’s a tenth of what The Outsiders made the same year, even though they both reportedly cost the same: $10 million. Rumble Fish goes down as a rather notable box office flop in addition to being one of Coppola’s lowest-grossing movies.
2 Twixt
$1.27 Million
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Twixt (2011) RHorrorMysterySci-FiThriller
Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date September 10, 2011 Cast Val Kilmer , Bruce Dern , Elle Fanning , Ben Chaplin , Joanne Whalley , David Paymer , Anthony Fusco , Alden Ehrenreich , Bruce A. Miroglio , Don Novello , Lisa Bailes , Ryan Simpkins , Lucas Rice Jordan , Fiona Medaris , Katie Crom , Tom Waits , Stacey Mattina , Lorraine Gaudet , Dorothy Tchelistcheff , Lucy Bunter , Kristine Hayworth , Marisa Lenhardt , Davia Schendel Runtime 88 minutes Expand
Twixt is a rather important movie in Coppola’s filmography, as it marked his last directorial effort for over a decade. It also did not have a traditional theatrical release, as it was not distributed domestically at all, only playing at select film festivals and a few international territories. That substantially hindered the movie’s box office chances, which may not have been great anyway with its poor reviews – 33% on Rotten Tomatoes – and Coppola going years without a major hit at this stage.
Still, Twixt is only reported to have made around $1.3 million during its limited release. That is well below the film’s reported budget of $7 million. The financial performance of Francis Ford Coppola’s horror movie otherwise completely relies upon 20th Century Fox’s release on Blu-Ray and DVD.
1 One From the Heart
$1 Million
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One From the Heart RDramaRomance
Director Francis Ford Coppola Release Date February 11, 1982 Cast Teri Garr , Frederic Forrest , Raul Julia , Nastassja Kinski , Lainie Kazan , Harry Dean Stanton , Allen Garfield , Jeff Hamlin , Italia Coppola , Carmine Coppola , Edward Blackoff , James Dean , Rebecca De Mornay , Javier Grajeda , Cynthia Kania , Monica Scattini Runtime 103 Minutes Expand
One From The Heart is an infamous box office story for Francis Ford Coppola. As the second-lowest-grossing movie of his career, it made either $716K or just over $1 million, depending on the box office source. In either case, the movie proved to be a sizable failure for Coppola as the romantic musical earned negative reviews, as indicated by its 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is because One From The Heart reportedly cost between $23 million and $26 million to make.
Originally, One From The Heart had a budget of $15 million, with Coppola receiving a record $2 million to direct from MGM. His vision for the film evolved as development continued, leading to him buying the rights through Zoetrope Studios so the budget could grow. Bad test screenings and some defiant moves by Francis Ford Coppola caused Paramount to back out of distributing the film domestically. His bet on One From The Heart caused massive financial problems for him going forward.
Sources: The Numbers, Box Office Mojo, AFI, Rolling Stone