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What dispute led Francis Ford Coppola to win a court judgment against Warner Brothers?

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Francis Ford Coppola, with a beard, sits on a camera dolly surrounded by crew and actors on the set of The Godfather: Part II, with storefronts in the background. — Francis Ford Coppola American filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola won the Oscar for best director for *The Godfather: Part II* (1974).

Francis Ford Coppola’s legal dispute with Warner Brothers stemmed from the studio's abandonment of a three-picture deal. This agreement was intended to include an adaptation of Pinocchio, the children’s classic The Secret Garden, and a biography of J. Edgar Hoover.1

In 1998, a court ruled in favor of Coppola, awarding him $20 million for the studio's failure to proceed with the projects, along with an additional $60 million in punitive damages. This protracted legal struggle contributed to a period of reduced activity for the director during the late 1990s.12