$60 Million of Coppola’s Studio Award Thrown Out

In a blow to director Francis Ford Coppola, a judge in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday threw out the $60 million in punitive damages a jury awarded the director from Warner Bros. in July. Coppola’s combined $80-million judgment had set a record as the largest ever against a Hollywood studio in a civil trial.

Judge Madeleine I. Flier ruled in favor of Warner Bros. in granting a post-trial motion to dismiss the $60-million award. In her decision, Flier wrote that Coppola “failed to satisfy his burden of proof, by clear and convincing evidence, that he is entitled to punitive damages.”

Coppola filed the suit in 1995 over a film version of “Pinocchio” he wanted to direct. Coppola argued that Warner Bros. improperly prevented him from taking the project to another studio once it decided not to make the movie.

Still standing is the $20 million in compensatory damages awarded to Coppola. Warner Bros. lost a motion for a new trial.

A Warner Bros. spokeswoman said: “We are pleased that the court felt that the punitive damages were totally unjustified. We look forward to the opportunity to review the compensatory damages in the Court of Appeal.”

Coppola’s attorney, Robert Chapman, vowed to cross-appeal the judge’s decision. “Mr. Coppola is pleased that the court affirmed the $20-million compensatory damages,” said Chapman. “He’s disappointed that the judge decided to substitute her judgment for that of a jury that sat through a trial for nearly six weeks. We’re confident that the Court of Appeal will reverse this decision.”