THX 1138 is a 1971 movie and was the first feature film directed by George Lucas and excutive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Coppola 's production company American Zoetrope . The debt nearly closed Zoetrope , and forced Coppola to ( reluctantly ) take on another project , The Godfather . THX 1138 was released to theaters on March 11 , 1971 and was commercially unsuccessful .