Francis Ford Coppola, the acclaimed film director known for “The Godfather,” has used San Francisco’s historic Sentinel Building as collateral for a private loan. The move comes amid ongoing financial difficulties following the release of his 2024 film “Megalopolis,” which was a box office disappointment.
Documents filed with the San Francisco assessor-recorder indicate that Francis Ford Coppola Presents, one of Coppola’s companies, secured a loan from Capital Holdings VI LLC, using the Sentinel Building as a guarantee. The building itself is owned by Sofia Properties LP, another company associated with Coppola. The ground floor houses Café Zoetrope, while upper floors serve as offices for his production company, American Zoetrope.
The terms of the loan and the current value of the building have not been disclosed. If Coppola defaults on the loan, Capital Holdings VI LLC would become the new owner of the property. The Sentinel Building was designated as a historic landmark by San Francisco in 1970. Representatives for both Coppola’s companies and Capital Holdings VI did not respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time Coppola has leveraged this property to secure financing. In the 1980s, he narrowly avoided losing it at auction after paying off a $1.7 million debt to Security Pacific Bank. In 1998, he used it again to back a $1.5 million loan from First Republic Bank.
Coppola’s recent financial troubles are tied to his self-financed film “Megalopolis.” To fund its production and other projects, he merged his Sonoma County wineries with a Napa-based brand and borrowed $200 million against his ownership stake. Despite costing $120 million to make, “Megalopolis” earned only $14.4 million at the box office.
He also invested part of that loan into improvements at Inglenook Winery in Napa Valley and renovations at the Sentinel Building. According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, some office spaces in the building were converted into hotel rooms.
In an interview with Rick Rubin on a podcast, Coppola said: “I don’t have any money because I invested all the money that I borrowed to make ‘Megalopolis.’” He recently announced plans to auction seven watches in December, including one expected to sell for over $1 million.
“I need to get some money to keep the ship afloat,” he told The New York Times last month.
Earlier this month, Coppola sold his island in Belize for $1.8 million—a sale linked by The Hollywood Reporter to losses from “Megalopolis.”
Coppola has faced similar challenges before; making “Apocalypse Now” in 1979 left him heavily in debt. Recently he has spent much of his time in Europe working on a musical adaptation of Edith Wharton’s novel “Glimpses of the Moon.”
