Francis Ford Coppola’s 10 highest-grossing films, including Metropolis

Francis Ford Coppola made some of the best films in the history of cinema, and although this brought him financial success from time to time, the ranking of his highest-grossing films varied from Megapolis. Godfather helped establish Coppola as one of Hollywood’s greatest cinematography talents, and the mafia crime film proved that it was also a huge hit with movie theater audiences. GodfatherThe $243 million box office gross suggested he would have plenty of other big financial hits, but with his penchant for risky projects, big budgets and conflicts with studios, that rarely happened after 1974.

Coppola still managed to strike Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1992, as it was his only film to earn more than $200 million worldwide. None of Francis Ford Coppola’s other films have earned more than $100 million (via 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 sometimes even struggling to get theatrical releases. Megapolis is another example of this struggle, as it ranks among Coppola’s highest-grossing films at the box office.

10

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

$19.6 million

In 1988, Coppola teamed up with Jeff Bridges for Tucker: The Man and His Dream bring the true story of Preston Tucker to life in a comedy-drama biopic. The film was struggling before George Lucas came on board to help bring it to completion. Tucker: The Man and His DreamReviews called it a strong outing from Coppola and Bridges, earning it an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes to date.

However, Tucker: The Man and His Dreams During its theatrical run, it earned just $19.6 million. This comes after it earned just $3.7 million in its opening weekend from 720 theaters. With a reported budget of only $24 million, the film did not achieve the high box office numbers it needed to achieve. Tucker: The Man and His Dream never made back its budget or turn a profit, making it one of Coppola’s highest-grossing films decades later.

9

Finian’s Rainbow

$11.6 million

Finian’s Rainbow It was the third film Coppola directed, and only the second backed by a major studio. Despite Rotten Tomatoes currently having a negative rating of 53%, the musical starring Fred Astaire achieved great success upon its release, including two Oscar nominations and five Golden Globe nominations. Although Warner Bros. was involved in the film’s theatrical release, it didn’t have much of a push and, as a result, had a hard time finding an audience.

Total box office receipts for Finian’s Rainbow is only 11.6 million dollars. This amount was raised entirely from the domestic distribution of the film. The performance was probably not the same as W.B. or Coppola were hoping for a fantasy musical, but the budget is believed to have been quite low, meaning that Finian’s Rainbow it may have ended up being profitable for the studio and the director after all.

8

Megapolis

$10.2 million

MegapolisThe final box office figures may not be official, but the film is sure to retain its place as one of Francis Ford Coppola’s highest-grossing films. Even though the director paid approximately $150 million to produce, promote and release the film, the film was always a passion project for him rather than a chance to regain box office success. This possibility, as unlikely as it was, became even more difficult after the number of reviews dropped. Even the controversial nature of its 46% Rotten Tomatoes score failed to generate enough interest.

Currently, Megapolis earned $10.2 million at the box office worldwide (via Cashier Mojo). MegapolisThe film’s opening weekend box office gross was only $4 million, and there was limited international interest throughout its theatrical run. This is despite the fact that this is Coppola’s biggest release in decades. As concert times slow down and new, bigger releases emerge, Megapolis‘ the total could still rise higher. It may pass eventually Finian’s Rainbowbut in order for it not to crack Coppola’s top ten highest-grossing films, it would need to gross more than $25 million.

7

Gardens of stone

$5.2 million

Francis Ford Coppola returned to studying war after Apocalypse Now With Gardens of stonebut the 1987 film didn’t generate the same excitement as its 1979 epic. Despite the success in Peggy Sue got married ($41 million) Gardens of stone received only limited theatrical release. The film’s box office prospects were also negatively impacted by the film’s mixed reviews, resulting in its current Rotten Tomatoes rating of 44%.

Gardens of stone At its widest release, it was only shown in 612 theaters, and as a result, it barely made $1.6 million in its opening weekend. The film’s final cost was $5.2 million, significantly lower than its reported $13.5 million budget (via API). The film was a costly loss for Coppola and the studio, but it would have been even greater had the US Army not been involved in the production.

6

Talk

$4.7 million

Talk is certainly one of Francis Ford Coppola’s best films, but unfortunately it is also one of his worst box office performers. The film’s production quality is surprising considering it was Coppola’s first film since Godfather and starring Gene Hackman. It also had stellar reviews, urging audiences to see the film in theaters: it currently has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning it’s doing better at the box office than TalkIt was expected to gross $4.4 million on its initial release.

Although the current box office gross is $4.7 million, Talk played in theaters for months and could not find a large audience, as Godfather it was two years ago. The good news for Coppola is that the film still managed to succeed at the box office, as it only cost $1.6 million to make. It exceeded the budget almost three times then, and his cinematic legacy is much larger than one might assume, with a total of less than $5 million.

5

Tetro

$2.9 million

Tetro is among the highest-grossing films ever directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Released in 2009, it only managed to gross $518,000 during its limited release by Coppola’s distribution company. His position on this list has only improved thanks to the $2.3 million he has earned internationally. That helps push it to a box office total of nearly $2.9 million.

However, Tetro remains a financial disappointment for Coppola. Production took place almost entirely in Argentina and reportedly cost $5 million. At that time, the film’s box office receipts barely exceeded half of the stated budget. Since the film was never shown in more than 15 theaters domestically, the film’s box office receipts Tetro It has always been difficult.

4

Youth without youth

$2.6 million

Youth without youth Viewed on paper, this may seem like one of Coppola’s biggest mistakes of his career. It received poor reviews, as evidenced by its 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned only $2.6 million (according to Cashier Mojo). At the time of its release, it didn’t even manage to make $300,000 domestically, as most of its ticket sales came internationally. And while that does mean it ranks at the bottom of Coppola’s highest-grossing films, that’s not all.

Miraculously, Youth without youth managed to earn more at the box office than it cost Coppola. He said Rolling Stone in 2024, he made the film for less than $1 million. Since Sony didn’t bother releasing the film domestically at all—the most theaters it had on a single release day was 18—there shouldn’t be much marketing spend that would significantly increase the budget.

3

Rumble Fish

$2.5 million

Francis Ford Coppola has struggled to continue his hits over the years, and Rumble Fish is no exception. His second film, 1983, came out a few months after Outsiders and retained stars such as Matt Dillon and Diane Lane. Despite Rumble Fish got good reviews, it couldn’t compare Outsiderspath to success, earning $25 million.

The reality is that Rumble Fish During its rental period, it earned only $2.5 million. This is a tenth of what Outsiders were made the same year, although they both reportedly cost the same: $10 million. Rumble Fish was a fairly notable box office flop, and also became one of Coppola’s highest-grossing films.

2

Twixt

$1.27 million

Twixt is a fairly important film in Coppola’s filmography, as it was his last directorial effort for more than a decade. It also did not have a traditional theatrical release, as it was not distributed domestically at all and only played at select film festivals and a few international territories. This significantly hurt the film’s chances at the box office, which may not have been very good anyway due to poor reviews (33% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Coppola not having much success at this stage for years.

Still, Twixt It reportedly only earned around $1.3 million during its limited release. This is significantly lower than the film’s reported budget of $7 million. The rest of the financial performance of Francis Ford Coppola’s horror film rests entirely on 20th Century Fox’s Blu-Ray and DVD release.

1

One from the heart

1 million dollars

One from the heart this is Francis Ford Coppola’s infamous box office story. It is the second highest-grossing film of his career, grossing either $716,000 or just over $1 million, depending on the source of the box office receipts. In any case, the film turned out to be a significant failure for Coppola, as the romantic musical received negative reviews, as evidenced by its 51% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s because One from the heart it reportedly cost between $23 million and $26 million to make.

Initially, One from the heart had a budget of $15 million, with Coppola receiving a record $2 million for directing from MGM. His vision for the film changed as development continued, leading him to purchase the rights through Zoetrope Studios so the budget could grow. Poor test showings and some cheeky performances Francis Ford Coppola caused Paramount to refuse to distribute the film domestically. His bet is on One from the heart caused him huge financial problems in the future.

Sources: Numbers, Cashier Mojo, API, Rolling Stone