There are countless stories in Hollywood of industry players falling fast and hard. Once on top, suddenly desperate, then fading away. Peter Lawford, the handsome 1940’s MGM matinee idol married into American Political Royalty fell so low the British Born actor was rumored to have been selling autographed scripts in Hollywood souvenir shops for quick cash in the 70’s. Mickey Rooney after eight decades in show business, at one time earning $65,000 a week, during a decade when the minimum wage was .30/hr, was penniless when he passed in 2014. Orson Welles peddled supermarket table wine to support himself. Nicolas Cage stars in movies to pay the rent these days. Moving to Cage’s cousin, famed filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola and the consequence of an ambitious yet misguided silver screen endeavour.
A lot was made of the five-time Oscar Winner comeback film Megalopolis. There is a showbiz expression “never put your money in your own movie “. Well, at least Coppola put his money where his mouth is. However, the all starrer self-financed $120 million feature premiered at Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews, even being called a “Mega Fail”, only garnering 45% on Rotten Tomatoes. The 2-hour 18-minute work grossed a paltry $14 million at the box office. Why did an industry veteran with such statue take an immense gamble when bankable meant a man in superhero tights?
On a sad note, Coppola announced he has no money forcing to sell his valuable timepiece collection for $1 million. The Godfather director admitted “It’s all gone” to the Tetragrammaton podcast. One of the most celebrated movie mavericks reduced his legacy to pawning off jewels.
What is the lesson to heed? Invest in luxury watches, they retain value, cause you never know when you will need fast cash. An ego can be the worst enemy. Embracing failure sucks.