I think we can call 'One from The Heart' a rush of blood to the head by the legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. He was still riding high on the success of 'Apocalypse Now' when he made this early 1980s musical romance, and he wanted to use the latest filmmaking innovations to bring his film to life. Because of that, the budget for the film shot up from an initial estimate of $8m to an extremely expensive $23m.
Perhaps nobody wanted to see Coppola make a romance film. Perhaps it just wasn't very good. Maybe it was a combination of both. Whatever the reason, hardly anyone was willing to part with their cash to come and see it. Against that inflated production cost, 'One from The Heart' didn't even make back $1m of the costs. Zoetrope Productions were completely crushed by the lost, and they were joined in bankruptcy by Coppola himself, who'd sunk his own money into making the film.