Editing Francis Ford Coppola (section)

==Career==
===1960–1969: Early works===
After earning his theater arts degree from Hofstra in 1960, Coppola enrolled in [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television| UCLA Film School]] attending with Bart Patton and Pete (John) Broadrick.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hofstra.edu/home/news/ur/points-pride.html |title=Points of Pride – Hofstra University, New York |website=www.hofstra.edu |access-date=May 8, 2017 |archive-date=May 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523061106/http://www.hofstra.edu/home/news/ur/points-pride.html |url-status=live }}</ref> There, he directed a short horror film, ''The Two Christophers'', inspired by [[Edgar Allan Poe]]'s "[[William Wilson (short story)|William Wilson]]" and ''Ayamonn the Terrible'', a film about a sculptor's nightmares coming to life.<ref name="The Gods of Filmmaking ">{{cite web |url=http://www.ambidextrouspics.com/html/francis_ford_coppola.html |title=Francis Ford Coppola biography |access-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710050242/http://www.ambidextrouspics.com/html/francis_ford_coppola.html |archive-date=July 10, 2010}}</ref> He also met undergraduate film major [[Jim Morrison]], future frontman of [[The Doors]].<ref>{{cite web|title=SparkNotes: Apocalypse Now: Score and Soundtrack|url=http://www.sparknotes.com/film/apocalypsenow/section3.rhtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504054656/http://www.sparknotes.com/film/apocalypsenow/section3.rhtml|archive-date=May 4, 2012|access-date=October 18, 2010|publisher=www.sparknotes.com}}</ref>

In the early 1960s, Coppola made $10 per week<ref>{{Cite book |last=Coppola |first=Francis Ford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XDu7cRa4f5oC&dq=francis+ford+coppola+10+dollar+a+week&pg=PA8 |title=Francis Ford Coppola: Interviews |date=2004 |publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-57806-666-7 |language=en |access-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210103505/https://books.google.com/books?id=XDu7cRa4f5oC&dq=francis+ford+coppola+10+dollar+a+week&pg=PA8#v=onepage&q=francis%20ford%20coppola%2010%20dollar%20a%20week&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> (roughly equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|10|1963}} per week today).{{Inflation-fn|US}} Looking for a way to earn some extra money, he found that many colleagues from film school made money filming erotic productions known as "nudie-cuties" or "skin flicks", which showed nudity without implying any sexual act.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Jenny M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5EISEAAAQBAJ&dq=francis+ford+coppola+skin+flicks&pg=PT26 |title=The Annotated Godfather (50th Anniversary Edition): The Complete Screenplay, Commentary on Every Scene, Interviews, and Little-Known Facts |date=September 21, 2021 |publisher=Running Press |isbn=978-0-7624-7382-3 |language=en |access-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210103626/https://books.google.com/books?id=5EISEAAAQBAJ&dq=francis+ford+coppola+skin+flicks&pg=PT26 |url-status=live }}</ref> At 21, Coppola wrote the script for ''The Peeper'', a short comedy film about a [[Voyeurism|voyeur]] who tries to spy on a sensual photo shoot in the studio next to his apartment. Coppola found an interested producer, who gave him $3,000 to shoot the film. He hired [[Playboy Bunny]] [[Marli Renfro]] to play the model and had his friend Karl Schanzer play the voyeur. With ''The Peeper'' finished, Coppola found that the cartoonish aspects of the film alienated potential buyers, who did not find the 12-minute short exciting enough to screen in [[Adult movie theater|adult theaters]].<ref name="FanFare">{{Cite web|last=Guerra|first=Felipe M.|title=The Nude-Father: the 'erotic' films directed by Francis Ford Coppola|url=https://medium.com/fan-fare/the-nude-father-the-erotic-films-directed-by-francis-ford-coppola-79535b0cf211/|access-date=November 18, 2020|website=FanFare|date=October 28, 2020|language=en|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023152315/https://medium.com/fan-fare/the-nude-father-the-erotic-films-directed-by-francis-ford-coppola-79535b0cf211|url-status=live}}</ref>

After much rejection, Coppola received an opportunity from Premier Pictures Company, a small production company that invested in ''The Wide Open Spaces'', an erotic [[Western (genre)|western]] written and directed by Jerry Schafer, which had been shelved for more than a year. Both Schafer's film and ''The Peeper'' featured Renfro, so the producers paid Coppola $500 to combine the two films. After Coppola re-edited the picture, it was released as the [[Softcore pornography|softcore]] comedy ''[[Tonight for Sure]]'' (1962).<ref name="FanFare" /> Another production company, Screen Rite Pictures, hired Coppola to do a similar job: re-cutting the German film ''{{Ill|Mit Eva fing die Sünde an (film)|de|3=Mit Eva fing die Sünde an|lt=Mit Eva fing die Sünde an}}'' (''Sin Began with Eve''), directed by [[Fritz Umgelter]]. Coppola added new color footage with British model [[June Wilkinson]] and other nude starlets.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Phillips |first=Gene D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A1hEAgAAQBAJ&dq=francis+ford+coppola+June+Wilkinson&pg=PT34 |title=Godfather: The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola |date=April 23, 2014 |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |isbn=978-0-8131-4672-0 |language=en |access-date=June 21, 2022 |archive-date=February 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210104013/https://books.google.com/books?id=A1hEAgAAQBAJ&dq=francis+ford+coppola+June+Wilkinson&pg=PT34#v=onepage&q=francis%20ford%20coppola%20June%20Wilkinson&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> The re-edited film was released as ''[[The Bellboy and the Playgirls]]''. That same year, producer/director [[Roger Corman]] hired Coppola as an assistant. Corman first tasked Coppola with dubbing and re-editing the Soviet science fiction film ''[[Nebo Zovyot]]'' (1959), which Coppola turned into the sex-and-violence monster movie ''[[Battle Beyond the Sun]]'' (1962).<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola (Yahoo!)" /> Impressed by Coppola's perseverance and dedication, Corman hired him as a dialogue director for ''[[Tower of London (1962 film)|Tower of London]]'' (1962), sound man for ''[[The Young Racers]]'' (1963) and associate producer and one of many uncredited directors for ''[[The Terror (1963 film)|The Terror]]'' (1963).<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Biography" />

Coppola's first [[feature film]] was ''[[Dementia 13]]'' (1963). While on location in Ireland for ''The Young Racers'', Corman persuaded Coppola to use that film's leftover funds to make a low-budget [[horror movie]].<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Biography" /> Coppola wrote a brief draft in one night, incorporating elements from [[Alfred Hitchcock| Hitchcock's]] ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'',<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Interview page 3">{{cite web |title=Francis Ford Coppola Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org |publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]] |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/#interview |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323144840/https://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/#interview |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the result impressed Corman enough to give the go-ahead. On a budget of $40,000 ($20,000 from Corman and $20,000 from another producer who wanted to buy the movie's English rights),<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Interview page 3" /> Coppola directed ''Dementia 13'' over the course of nine days. The film recouped its expenses and later became a [[cult film]] among horror buffs. It was on the set of ''Dementia 13'' that Coppola met the woman he would marry, [[Eleanor Coppola| Eleanor Jessie Neil]].

In 1965, Coppola won the annual [[Samuel Goldwyn Writing Awards| Samuel Goldwyn Award]] for best screenplay written by a UCLA student for ''Pilma, Pilma''.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola" /> The honor secured him a job as a scriptwriter with [[Seven Arts Productions|Seven Arts]]. During this time, Coppola also co-wrote the scripts for ''[[This Property Is Condemned]]'' (1966) and ''[[Is Paris Burning? (film)|Is Paris Burning?]]'' (1966). Coppola bought the rights to [[David Benedictus]]'s novel ''[[You're a Big Boy Now (novel)|You're a Big Boy Now]]'' (1963) and merged it with a story idea of his own, resulting in his UCLA [[thesis]] project ''[[You're a Big Boy Now]]'' (1966), which earned him his Master of Fine Arts Degree from [[UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television]] in 1967.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Biography" /><ref name="UCLATFT">[http://www.tft.ucla.edu/about/executive-board/francis-ford-coppola/ "Profile: Francis Ford Coppola"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140716061348/http://www.tft.ucla.edu/about/executive-board/francis-ford-coppola/|date=July 16, 2014}}, UCLA School of Theater, Film, and television, Executive Board</ref><ref name="Thomson"/> The film also received a theatrical release via [[Warner Bros.]] and earned critical acclaim.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola (Yahoo!)" />

[[File:Francis Ford Coppola, gtfy.00687.jpg | thumb|Francis Ford Coppola in 1973]]
Following the success of ''You're a Big Boy Now'', Coppola was offered to work on an adaptation of the musical ''[[Finian's Rainbow]]'' starring dance legend [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Petula Clark]] in her first American film. Producer [[Jack L. Warner]] was not impressed by Coppola's shaggy-haired, bearded, "[[hippie]]" appearance and generally left him to his own devices. Coppola took the cast to the [[Napa County, California| Napa Valley]] for much of the outdoor shooting, but those scenes were in sharp contrast to those filmed on a Hollywood soundstage, resulting in a disjointed look. None the less, [[Finian's Rainbow (1968 film)| ''Finian's Rainbow'']] (1968) was a critical and commercial success. Clark received a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama| Golden Globe]] Best Actress nomination. The film introduced Coppola to [[George Lucas]], who became a lifelong friend and a production assistant on his next film.

''[[The Rain People]]'' (1969) was written, directed, and initially produced by Coppola himself, though as the movie advanced, he exceeded his budget and the studio had to underwrite the remainder of the movie.<ref name=" Francis Ford Coppola (Yahoo!)" /> It won the [[Golden Shell]] at the 1969 [[San Sebastián International Film Festival]]. Coppola wanted to subvert the studio system, which he felt had stifled his visions, intending to produce mainstream pictures to finance off-beat projects and give first-time directors a chance. While touring Europe, Coppola was introduced to alternative filmmaking equipment and, inspired by the [[Bohemianism| bohemian]] spirit of Lanterna Film, decided he would build a deviant studio that would conceive and implement unconventional approaches to filmmaking. He decided to name his future studio "Zoetrope" after receiving a gift of [[zoetrope]]s from Mogens Scot-Hansen, founder of Lanterna Film. Upon his return home, Coppola and Lucas searched for a mansion in [[Marin County, California| Marin County]] to house the studio. However, in 1969, with equipment flowing in and no mansion found yet, the first home for [[American Zoetrope| Zoetrope Studio]] was a warehouse in [[San Francisco]] on [[Folsom Street]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zoetrope.com/zoe_films.cgi?page=history |title=A Brief History of American Zoetrope |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100925031247/http://www.zoetrope.com/zoe_films.cgi?page=history |archive-date=September 25, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Andrew Sarris]], in ''The American Cinema'' (1968), wrote: "[Coppola] is probably the first reasonably talented and sensibly adaptable directorial talent to emerge from a university curriculum in film-making&nbsp;... [He] may be heard from more decisively in the future."<ref>[[Andrew Sarris|Sarris, Andrew]] (1968). ''The American Cinema'' (Paperback ed.). New York, NY: EP Dutton and Co., Inc. p. 210.</ref>

=== 1970–1979: ''The Godfather'' and acclaim ===
==== ''Patton'' (1970) ====
Coppola co-wrote the script for [[Patton (film)|''Patton'']] starting in 1963 along with [[Edmund H. North]]. This earned him his first [[Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay]]. However, it was not easy for Coppola to convince [[Franklin J. Schaffner]] that [[Patton (film)#Opening|the opening scene]] would work. Coppola later revealed in an interview,
{{Blockquote| I wrote the script of ''Patton''. And the script was very controversial when I wrote it, because they thought it was so stylized. It was supposed to be like, sort of, you know, ''[[The Longest Day (film)|The Longest Day]]''. And my script of ''Patton'' was—I was sort of interested in the reincarnation. And I had this very bizarre opening where he stands up in front of an American flag and gives this speech. Ultimately, I wasn't fired, but I was fired, meaning that when the script was done, they said, "Okay, thank you very much," and they went and hired another writer and that script was forgotten. And I remember very vividly this long, kind of being raked over the coals for this opening scene.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Interview page 4">{{cite web |url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/#interview |title=An Interview with Francis Ford Coppola |publisher=achievement.org |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190323144840/https://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/#interview |archive-date=March 23, 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}

When the title role was offered to [[George C. Scott]], he remembered having read Coppola's screenplay earlier. He stated flatly that he would accept the part only if they used Coppola's script. "Scott is the one who resurrected my version," said Coppola.<ref>{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=Gene |title=Godfather The Intimate Francis Ford Coppola |year=2004 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=Lexington, Kentucky |isbn=0-8131-2304-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/godfatherintimat00phil/page/32 32] |chapter=1 Point of Departure|chapter-url-access=registration|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/godfatherintimat00phil |url=https://archive.org/details/godfatherintimat00phil/page/32}}</ref>

The movie opens with Scott's rendering of Patton's famous military "Pep Talk" to members of the Third Army, set against a huge American flag. Coppola and North had to tone down Patton's actual language to avoid an [[Motion picture content rating system#Restricted|R rating]]; in the opening monologue, the word "fornicating" replaced "fucking" when criticizing ''[[The Saturday Evening Post]]''. Over the years, this opening monologue has become an iconic scene and has spawned parodies in numerous films, political cartoons, and television shows.

==== ''The Godfather'' (1972) ====
''[[The Godfather]]'' (1972) was a turning point in Coppola's career. However, he faced several difficulties while filming. [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] had owned the rights to [[Mario Puzo]]'s [[The Godfather (novel)|novel]], about an American [[mafia]] family, for several years. Coppola was not Paramount's first choice to direct; [[Sergio Leone]] was initially offered the job but declined in order to direct his own gangster opus, ''[[Once Upon a Time in America]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Frayling |title=Spaghetti Westerns: Cowboys and Europeans from Karl May to Sergio Leone |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2bo9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA215 |year=1981 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-7100-0503-8 |page=215 |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-date=February 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240210104024/https://books.google.com/books?id=2bo9AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA215 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Robert Evans]] wanted the picture to be directed by an [[Italian American]] to make it "ethnic to the core".<ref name="VF">{{cite web |title=The ''Godfather'' Wars |author=Mark Seal |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/03/godfather200903 |date=March 2009 |access-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714155852/http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/03/godfather200903.print |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=live|author-link=Mark Seal}}</ref>{{sfn|Welsh|Phillips|Hill|2010|p=104}} Evans' chief assistant [[Peter Bart]] suggested Coppola, as a director of Italian ancestry who would work for a low sum and budget after the poor reception of ''The Rain People''.{{sfn|Phillips|2004|p=89}}<ref name="VF"/> Coppola initially turned down the job because he found Puzo's novel sleazy and sensationalist, describing it as "pretty cheap stuff".{{sfn|Phillips|2004|p=88}}{{sfn|Lebo|1997|p=23}} At the time, Coppola's studio American Zoetrope owed over $400,000 to [[Warner Bros.]] for budget overruns on ''[[THX 1138]]'' and, when coupled with his poor financial standing, along with advice from friends and family, Coppola reversed his initial decision and took the job.<ref name="CBS D">{{cite web |title="The Godfather" Turns 40 |publisher=[[CBS News]] |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-godfather-turns-40/6/ |date=March 15, 2012 |access-date=July 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717010438/http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/the-godfather-turns-40/6/ |archive-date=July 17, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DVDcom">''The Godfather'' DVD commentary featuring Francis Ford Coppola, [2001]</ref>  

Coppola was officially announced as director of the film on September 28, 1970.{{sfn|Jones|2007|p=18}} He agreed to receive $125,000 and six percent of the gross rentals.{{sfn|Lebo|2005|p=25}}{{sfn|Cowie|1997|p=11}} Coppola later found a deeper theme for the material and decided it should be not just be a film about organized crime, but also a [[family saga]] and a metaphor for capitalism in America.<ref name="VF" /> The story follows the [[Corleone family]] as patriarch [[Vito Corleone]] passes the reins of power to his son [[Michael Corleone| Michael]]. There was disagreement between Paramount and Coppola on casting; Coppola wanted to cast [[Marlon Brando]] as Vito, though Paramount wanted either [[Ernest Borgnine]] or [[Danny Thomas]]. [[Orson Welles]] was also considered. At one point, Coppola was told by the then-president of Paramount that "Marlon Brando will never appear in this motion picture." After pleading with the executives, Coppola was allowed to cast Brando only if he appeared in the film for much less money than his previous films, would perform a screen test, and put up a bond saying that he would not cause a delay in the production (as he had done on previous film sets).<ref name="Look">''The Godfather'' DVD Collection documentary ''A Look Inside'', [2001]</ref> Coppola chose Brando over Borgnine on the basis of Brando's screen test, which also won over the Paramount leadership. Coppola would later recall:{{Blockquote| ''The Godfather'' was a very unappreciated movie when we were making it. They were very unhappy with it. They didn't like the cast. They didn't like the way I was shooting it. I was always on the verge of getting fired. So it was an extremely nightmarish experience. I had two little kids, and the third one was born during that. We lived in a little apartment, and I was basically frightened that they didn't like it. They had as much as said that, so when it was all over I wasn't at all confident that it was going to be successful, and that I'd ever get another job.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Interview page 3" />}}

The film was a critical and commercial success, setting the box office record.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=August 2, 1972 |page=10 |title=Motion Picture History Has Been Made (advertisement) |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1972-08-02_267_12/page/10/mode/2up|access-date=December 10, 2023 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> [[Pauline Kael]] wrote: <blockquote>Coppola, a young director who has never had a big hit, may have done the movie for money, as he claims—in order to make the pictures he really wants to make, he says—but this picture was made at peak capacity. He has salvaged Puzo’s energy and lent the narrative dignity. Given the circumstances and the rush to complete the film and bring it to market, Coppola has not only done his best but pushed himself farther than he may realize. The movie is on the heroic scale of earlier pictures on broad themes, such as ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', ''[[From Here to Eternity]]'', and [[The Nun's Story (film)|''The Nun’s Story'']]. It offers a wide, startlingly vivid view of a Mafia dynasty. The abundance is from the book; the quality of feeling is Coppola’s ... The direction is tenaciously intelligent. Coppola holds on and pulls it all together. The trash novel is there underneath, but he attempts to draw the patterns out of the particulars. It’s amazing how encompassing the view seems to be—what a sense you get of a broad historical perspective, considering that the span is only from 1945 to the mid-fifties, at which time the Corleone family, already forced by competitive pressures into dealing in narcotics, is moving its base of operations to Las Vegas.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael |title=Alchemy| date=March 10, 1972| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/03/18/the-godfather-movie-review-pauline-kael}}</ref></blockquote>

In addition to Brando, the film starred [[Al Pacino]], [[James Caan]], [[John Cazale]] and [[Robert Duvall]]. It featured [[Richard Castellano]], [[Sterling Hayden]], [[Diane Keaton]] and Coppola's sister [[Talia Shire]]. Brando won the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]], which he refused to accept. The film won [[Academy Award for Best Picture| Best Picture]] and the [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay| Best Adapted Screenplay]]. Coppola was nominated for [[Academy Award for Best Director| Best Director]] but lost to [[Bob Fosse]] for [[Cabaret (1972 film)| ''Cabaret'']].<ref>{{cite web| title=The 45th Academy Awards| date=October 5, 2014| url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1973}}</ref> For the [[film score| score]], Coppola commissioned [[Nino Rota]], who had scored many [[Fellini]] films. [[Gordon Willis]]'s [[chiaroscuro]] cinematography was acclaimed, as was [[Dean Tavoularis]]'s period production design.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=The Great Movies| page=198}}</ref>

The film routinely ranks near the top of polls for the greatest movies ever. It was ranked third, behind ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941) and [[Casablanca (film)|''Casablanca'']] (1942), on the [[American Film Institute]]'s inaugural [[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies]] list in 1997. In 2007, it had moved to second place, ahead of ''Casablanca'' and behind ''Kane''.<ref name="afi">{{cite web |work=[[American Film Institute]] |url=http://www.afi.com/Docs/about/press/2007/100movies07.pdf |title=Citizen Kane Stands the test of Time |access-date=October 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811070405/http://www.afi.com/Docs/about/press/2007/100movies07.pdf |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[David Thomson (film critic)| David Thomson]] writes that "''The Godfather'' deserved all its success because it had the nerve to take its 175 minutes slowly ...  It has a calm faith in narrative control that had not been current in Hollywood for twenty years. It was like a film of the forties in its nostalgic decor; its command of great supporting actors; in Gordon Willis's bold exploration of a [[film noir]] in color; and in its fascination with evil."<ref name="Thomson">{{cite book| last=Thomson| author-link=David Thomson (film critic)| first=David| title=[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]| page=201-2}}</ref>

==== ''The Conversation'' (1974) ====
''[[The Conversation]]'' (1974) further cemented Coppola's reputation. It was influenced by [[Michelangelo Antonioni]]'s ''[[Blowup]]'' (1966)<ref>{{cite book| last=Ondaatje| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Ondaatje| title=[[The Conversations]]| page=152}}</ref> and generated much interest when news leaked that it featured the same surveillance and wire-tapping equipment that members of the [[Nixon administration]] used to spy on political opponents in the [[Watergate scandal]]. Coppola claimed that this was purely coincidental, as the script for ''The Conversation'' was completed in the mid-1960s. However, audiences interpreted the film as a reaction to Watergate and its fallout. It stars [[Gene Hackman]] as Harry Caul, "the best bugger on the West Coast", hired to spy on a young couple played by [[Cindy Williams]] and [[Frederic Forrest]]. It features Cazale as his partner, Stan. The movie was a critical success and won Coppola his first [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[1974 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name=Palme/> Coppola's brother-in-law [[David Shire]] wrote the score and [[Walter Murch]] edited the picture, as Coppola started work on his next project.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ondaatje| first=Michael| title=[[The Conversations]]| page=157}}</ref>

==== ''The Godfather Part II'' (1974) ====
''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' is both [[prequel]] and [[sequel]] to the first film, telling parallel stories of the rise of young Vito Corleone and the fall of his son Michael. After its five-hour-long preview, George Lucas told Coppola, "You have two films. Take one away, it doesn't work." Coppola claims it was the first major motion picture to use "Part II" in its title; he was influenced by [[Sergei Eisenstein]]'s two-part [[Ivan the Terrible (1945 film)| ''Ivan the Terrible'']].<ref>{{cite news| title=Francis Ford Coppola apologizes for starting Hollywood sequel trend| last=Karr| first=Mary| date=December 2, 2024| work=[[The A.V. Club]]| url=https://www.avclub.com/francis-ford-coppola-sequel-trend-godfather-part-2}}</ref> Paramount was initially opposed to his decision to name the movie ''The Godfather Part II''. According to Coppola, the studio's objection stemmed from the belief that audiences would be reluctant to see a film with such a title, as the audience would supposedly believe that, having already seen ''The Godfather'', there was little reason to see an addition to the original film. However, the success of ''The Godfather Part II'' began the Hollywood tradition of numbered sequels.<ref>{{cite news| title=Francis Ford Coppola Has Found Himself Outside Hollywood. He's okay with that.| date=December 2, 2024| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/2024/12/02/francis-ford-coppola-kennedy-center-honors/}}</ref>

The movie received tremendous critical acclaim, with many deeming it superior to its predecessor. Kael wrote: <blockquote> Coppola has plunged us back into the sensuality and terror of the first film. And, with the relentlessness of a master, he goes farther and farther. The daring of Part II is that it enlarges the scope and deepens the meaning of the first film ... The first film covered the period from 1945 to the mid-fifties. Part II, contrasting the early manhood of Vito (played by [[Robert De Niro]]) with the life of Michael, his inheritor (AI Pacino), spans almost seventy years. We saw only the middle of the story in the first film; now we have the beginning and the end. Structurally, the completed work is nothing less than the rise and decay of an American dynasty of unofficial rulers ... Part II has the same mythic and operatic visual scheme as the first; once again the cinematographer is Gordon Willis. Visually the film is, however, far more complexly beautiful than the first, just as it’s thematically richer, more shadowed, more full. Willis’s workmanship has developed, like Coppola’s; even the sequences in the sunlight have deep tones — elegiac yet lyrical, as in [[The Conformist (1970 film) |''The Conformist'']], and always serving the narrative, as the Nino Rota score also does.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael| title=Fathers and Sons| date=December 23, 1974 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/the-godfather-part-ii-fathers-and-sons-review-by-pauline-kael/}}</ref></blockquote> 

In addition to Pacino, Cazale, Duvall, Keaton and Shire reprised their roles from the first film. Newcomers included [[Michael V. Gazzo]] and Pacino's mentor [[Lee Strasberg]]. ''The Godfather Part II'' was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director.<ref>{{cite web| title=The 47th Academy Awards| date=October 6, 2014| url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1975}}</ref> De Niro won Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Vito, making him and Brando the first actors to win Oscars for playing the same character. The film ranked at No. 32 on AFI's inaugural 100 Years...100 Movies list, maintaining its position ten years later.<ref name="afi"/> It  is ranked No. 1 on ''[[TV Guide Magazine|TV Guide]]''{{'s}} "50 Best Movies of All Time"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/tvguide.html |title=50 Greatest Movies (on TV and Video) by TV Guide Magazine |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331175627/http://www.filmsite.org/tvguide.html |archive-date=March 31, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> and at No. 7 on ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'''s list of the "100 Greatest Movies of All Time".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/ew100.html |title=100 Greates Movies of All Time by Entertainment Weekly |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331185517/http://www.filmsite.org/ew100.html |archive-date=March 31, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Together, the two ''Godfather''s placed at No. 4 on ''[[Sight & Sound]]''{{'s}} 2002 list of the ten greatest films of all time.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.filmsite.org/sightsound.html |title=10 Best Films of All Time Polls by Sight & Sound Magazine |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101118083212/http://www.filmsite.org/sightsound.html |archive-date=November 18, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Thomson writes that "it exhibited a mastery of so many periods and locations as to be entrancing."<ref name="Thomson"/> It was one of the last major American motion pictures to be filmed in [[Technicolor]].<ref>{{cite web| title=The 70s and Technicolor| work=The Technicolor Group| url=https://www.technicolor.com/about/history/the-70s-and-technicolor/}}</ref>

==== ''Apocalypse Now'' (1979) ====
Following the success of ''The Godfather'', ''The Conversation'' and ''The Godfather Part II'', Coppola began filming ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'', an adaptation of [[Joseph Conrad]]'s ''[[Heart of Darkness]]'' (1899) set in [[Cambodia]] during the [[Vietnam War]]. It follows Willard ([[Martin Sheen]]) as he journeys upriver to find and assassinate the rogue Kurtz (Brando). The production in the [[Philippines]] was plagued by numerous problems, including typhoons, nervous breakdowns, the firing of [[Harvey Keitel]], Sheen's heart attack, Brando arriving overweight and unprepared and extras from the Philippine military and half of the supplied helicopters leaving in the middle of scenes to fight rebels. It was delayed so often it was nicknamed ''Apocalypse When?''<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola: The RT Interview">{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1920998/news/1920998/francis-ford-coppola-the-rt-interview/ |title=Francis Ford Coppola: The RT Interview. The great director reflects upon his masterpiece Apocalypse Now |first=Tim |last=Ryan |date=October 15, 2010 |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020083621/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1920998/news/1920998/francis-ford-coppola-the-rt-interview/ |archive-date=October 20, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

''Apocalypse Now'' premiered at the [[1979 Cannes Film Festival]], where Coppola made grandiose claims, among them: "My film is not about Vietnam, it ''is'' Vietnam."<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola: The RT Interview" /> Despite such pronouncements, and complaints from critics that the film's message was confused, it shared the Palme d'Or with [[Volker Schlöndorff]]'s ''[[The Tin Drum (film)|The Tin Drum]]''<ref name=Palme>{{cite web | title=Palme d'or: the 1970s | work=[[Cannes Film Festival]] | date=April 20, 2020 |url=https://www.festival-cannes.com/en/2020/palme-dor-the-1970s/}}</ref> and won Oscars for [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography| Best Cinematography]] ([[Vittorio Storaro]]) and [[Academy Award for Best Sound| Best Sound]] (Murch, [[Mark Berger (sound engineer)| Mark Berger]], [[Richard Beggs]] and [[Nat Boxer]].)<ref>{{cite web| title=The 52nd Academy Awards| date=March 2022| url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1980}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] wrote: 

{{Blockquote |text= In his book ''The Films of My Life'', the French director [[François Truffaut]] made a curious statement. He used to believe, he says, that a successful film had to simultaneously express "an idea of the world and an idea of cinema." But now, he writes, "I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not at all interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse."}}

{{Blockquote |text=It may seem strange to begin a review of Franics Coppola's ''Apocalypse Now'' with those words, but consider them for a moment and they apply perfectly to this sprawling film. The critics who have rejected Coppola's film mostly did so on Truffaut's earlier grounds; they have arguments with the ideas about the world and the war in ''Apocalypse Now'' ... Like all great works of art about war, ''Apocalypse Now'' essentially contains only one idea or message, the not-especially enlightening observation that war is hell. We do not go to see Coppola's movie for that reason—something Coppola, but not some of his critics, knows well. Coppola also knows well (and demonstrated in the ''Godfather'' films) that movies aren't especially good at dealing with abstract ideas—for those you'd be better turning to the written word—but they are superb for presenting moods and feelings, the look of a battle, the expression of a face, the mood of a country. ''Apocalypse Now'' achieves greatness not by analyzing our "experience" in Vietnam, but by re-creating, in characters and images, something of that experience.}} 

{{Blockquote |text=An example: the scene in which Robert Duvall, as a crazed lieutenant colonel, leads his troops in a helicopter assault on a village is, quite simply, the best movie battle scene ever filmed. It's simultaneously numbing, depressing and exhilarating: as the rockets jar from the helicopters and spring through the air, we're elated like kids for a half second, until the reality of the consequences sinks in...}}

{{Blockquote |text=What's great in this film, and what will make it live for many years and speak to many audiences, is what Coppola achieves on the level Truffaut was discussing: the moments of agony and joy in making cinema. Some of those moments come at the same time; remember again the helicopter assault and its unsettling mixture of horror and exhilaration. Remember the weird beauty of the massed helicopters lifting over the trees in long shot, and the insane power of [[Richard Wagner |Wagner]]'s music, played loudly during the attack, and you feel what Coppola was getting at: those moments as common in life as art, when the whole huge grand mystery of the world, so beautiful, so terrible, seems to hang in the balance.<ref>{{cite news | last=Ebert | first=Roger | author-link=Roger Ebert | title=Apocalypse Now | date=June 1, 1979 |work=[[Chicago Sun Times]]}}</ref> 
}}

The film's reputation has grown and it is now regarded by many as a masterpiece of the New Hollywood and is frequently cited as one of the greatest movies ever made, ranking at Number 19 on the 2022 ''Sight and Sound'' poll.<ref>{{cite news| title=The Greatest Films of All Time| work= [[Sight and Sound]]| url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/greatest-films-all-time#rank-25}}</ref> For the film, Murch was the first person to receive a credit as a Sound Designer.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ondaatje| first=Michael| author-link=Michael Ondaatje| title=[[The Conversations]]| page=53}}</ref> 

The documentary ''[[Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse]]'' (1991), directed by [[George Hickenlooper]], Fax Bahr and Francis's wife, [[Eleanor Coppola]], who was present through the production, chronicles the difficulties the crew went through making ''Apocalypse Now'' and features behind-the-scenes footage filmed by Eleanor. Coppola famously stated, "We were in the jungle, there were too many of us, we had access to too much money, too much equipment and little by little, we went insane."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE0D91530F934A15752C1A967958260 |title=Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (1991) |date=November 27, 1991 |access-date=October 18, 2010 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Janet |last=Maslin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515003240/http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9D0CE0D91530F934A15752C1A967958260 |archive-date=May 15, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1980–1989: Hard Times ===
[[File:Vlahos-Coppola.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|Coppola (left) and [[Petro Vlahos]]]]''Apocalypse Now'' marked the end of the 'golden phase' of Coppola's career.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola (Yahoo!)" /> His Las Vegas-set musical fantasy ''[[One from the Heart]]'' (1982), while pioneering in its use of video-editing techniques, ended with a disastrous box-office gross of US$636,796 against a $26-million budget,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=onefromtheheart.htm |title=One from the Heart |publisher=Boxofficemojo.com |access-date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011075113/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=onefromtheheart.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> and he was forced to sell the 23-acre Zoetrope Studio in 1983.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola Biography" /> He would spend the rest of the decade working to pay off his debts. Ebert wrote that the film was "a ballet of graceful and complex camera movements occupying magnificent sets, and somehow the characters get lost in the process ... The storyteller of ''The Godfather'' has become a technician here. There are chilling parallels between Coppola’s obsessive control of this film and the character of Harry Caul, the wiretapper in Coppola’s ''The Conversation'' (1974), who cared only about technical results and refused to let himself think about human consequences."<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=One From the Heart| date=1982| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]}}</ref> Later critical evaluation has been more positive; Thomson calls the film "enchanting and touching".<ref name="Thomson"/> ''One from the Heart'' starred Forrest, [[Teri Garr]], [[Raúl Juliá]], [[Nastassja Kinski]] and was scored by [[Tom Waits]] with [[Crystal Gayle]] singing on many tracks with Waits. 

In 1983, he directed ''[[The Outsiders (film)|The Outsiders]]'', an adaptation of the [[The Outsiders (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[S. E. Hinton]]. Coppola credited his inspiration for making the film to a suggestion from middle school students who had read the novel. ''The Outsiders'' is notable for being the breakout film for a number of young actors who would go on to become major stars, including [[Matt Dillon]], [[Ralph Macchio]] and [[C. Thomas Howell]]. Also in the cast were [[Patrick Swayze]], [[Emilio Estevez]], [[Diane Lane]], [[Tom Cruise]] and [[Rob Lowe]] (in his film debut). Carmine Coppola wrote and edited the score, including the title song "Stay Gold", which was based on [[Robert Frost]]'s [[Nothing Gold Can Stay (poem) |"Nothing Gold Can Stay"]] and performed by [[Stevie Wonder]]. He directed ''[[Rumble Fish]]'', filmed at the same time as ''The Outsiders'' on-location in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]] and based on the [[Rumble Fish (novel)|novel of the same name]] by Hinton, who co-wrote the screenplay. Shot in black-and-white as an homage to [[German expressionist film | German expressionism]], ''Rumble Fish'' centers on the relationship between a revered former gang leader ([[Mickey Rourke]]) and his younger brother, Rusty James (Dillon). The film bombed at the box office, earning a meager $2.5&nbsp;million against a $10&nbsp;million budget.<ref name="BoxOffice">{{cite news |title=''Rumble Fish'' |work=Box Office Mojo |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rumblefish.htm |access-date=December 30, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625134342/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rumblefish.htm |archive-date=June 25, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> 

In 1984, Coppola directed the Robert Evans-produced [[The Cotton Club (film)|''The Cotton Club'']], based on the novel by [[James Haskins]] and centered on the eponymous [[Harlem]] [[jazz]] club. The film was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Picture (Drama) and Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Art-Direction. However, the film failed at the box-office, earning only $25.9&nbsp;million of the $47.9&nbsp;million privately invested by brothers Fred and Ed Doumani.<ref name="Greatest Box-Office Bombs, Disasters and Flops of All-Time">[http://www.filmsite.org/greatestflops10.html Greatest Box-Office Bombs, Disasters and Flops of All-Time] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101122224834/http://www.filmsite.org/greatestflops10.html |date=November 22, 2010 }}. Retrieved October 18, 2010.</ref> The same year, he directed "Rip Van Winkle", an adaptation of [[Washington Irving]]'s [[Rip Van Winkle| short story]] starring [[Harry Dean Stanton]] for [[Shelley Duvall]]'s ''[[Faerie Tale Theatre]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/faerie_tale_theatre_rip_van_winkle/ |title=Faerie Tale Theatre – Rip Van Winkle (1984) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=October 18, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091204145606/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/faerie_tale_theatre_rip_van_winkle/ |archive-date=December 4, 2009}}</ref> 

In 1986, Coppola directed ''[[Captain EO]]'', a 17-minute space fantasy for [[Disney theme parks]] executive produced by George Lucas and starring [[Michael Jackson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.papermag.com/hollyweird-captain-eo-2608363436.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1 |title=Michael Jackson and the Making of Disney's 'Captain EO' |last=Taylor |first=Trey |date=September 27, 2018 |website=Paper |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113195058/https://www.papermag.com/hollyweird-captain-eo-2608363436.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1 |archive-date=November 13, 2019 |access-date=November 13, 2019 }}</ref> Coppola, formerly a member of [[Writers Guild of America West]], left and maintained [[financial core]] status in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wga.org/members/membership-information/wgaw-financial-core-list|title=WGAW Financial Core List|website=www.wga.org|accessdate=August 17, 2023|archive-date=August 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813205209/https://www.wga.org/members/membership-information/wgaw-financial-core-list|url-status=live}}</ref> Also in 1986, Coppola released the comedy ''[[Peggy Sue Got Married]]'' starring [[Kathleen Turner]], [[Jim Carrey]] and Coppola's nephew [[Nicolas Cage]]. The film earned Coppola positive reviews and Turner her first and only Oscar nomination. It was Coppola's first box-office success since ''The Outsiders''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=peggysuegotmarried.htm |title=Peggy Sue Got Married |website=Box Office Mojo |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912040318/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=peggysuegotmarried.htm |archive-date=September 12, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> and ranked number 17 on ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''{{'}}s list of "50 Best High School Movies".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,1532588_1_0_,00.html |title=Entertainment Weekly's 50 Best High School Movies |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905083021/http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0%2C6115%2C1532588_1_0_%2C00.html |archive-date=September 5, 2008}}</ref>

The following year, Coppola re-teamed with James Caan for ''[[Gardens of Stone]]'', but the film was overshadowed by the death of Coppola's eldest son [[Gian-Carlo Coppola|Gian-Carlo]] during the film's production. The movie was not a critical success and underperformed commercially, earning only $5.6&nbsp;million against a $13&nbsp;million budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gardensofstone.htm |title=Gardens of Stone |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323064410/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gardensofstone.htm |archive-date=March 23, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Coppola directed ''[[Tucker: The Man and His Dream]]'' the year after that. The film is a biopic based on the life of [[Preston Tucker]] and his attempt to produce and market the [[Tucker automobile| Tucker '48]]; Coppola had originally conceived the project as a musical with Brando leading. Ultimately, it was [[Jeff Bridges]] who played the role of Tucker. Budgeted at $24&nbsp;million, the film received positive reviews and earned three nominations at the [[62nd Academy Awards]], but grossed a disappointing $19.65&nbsp;million at the box office. It garnered two awards: [[Martin Landau]] won the [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture| Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor]] and [[Dean Tavoularis]] took [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design| BAFTA's honors for Best Production Design]].

In 1989, Coppola teamed up with fellow Oscar-winners [[Martin Scorsese]] and [[Woody Allen]] for the [[anthology film]] ''[[New York Stories]]''. Coppola directed the "[[Life Without Zoe|Life Without Zoë]]" segment, starring Shire and co-written with his daughter [[Sofia Coppola| Sofia]]. "Life Without Zoë" was mostly panned by critics and was generally considered to be the segment that brought the film's overall quality down.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.currentfilm.com/dvdreviews4/newyorkstoriesdvd.html |title=New York Stories: DVD Information |access-date=October 18, 2010|url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123144435/http://currentfilm.com/dvdreviews4/newyorkstoriesdvd.html |archive-date=November 23, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19890303/REVIEWS/903030306/1023 |title=New York Stories by Roger Ebert |access-date=October 18, 2010 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107225055/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F19890303%2FREVIEWS%2F903030306%2F1023 |archive-date=November 7, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Hal Hinson]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote a particularly scathing review, stating: "It's impossible to know what Francis Coppola's ''Life Without Zoë'' is. Co-written with his daughter Sofia, the film is a mystifying embarrassment; it's by far the director's worst work yet."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/newyorkstoriespghinson_a0a8de.htm |title=New York Stories (PG) |date=March 3, 1989 |access-date=October 18, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121124824/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/newyorkstoriespghinson_a0a8de.htm |archive-date=January 21, 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> Zoetrope Studios finally filed for [[Chapter 11 bankruptcy]] in 1990, after which its name was changed to American Zoetrope.<ref name="Francis Ford Coppola (Yahoo!)" />

=== 1990–1999: Continued work ===

==== ''The Godfather Part III'' (1990) ====
{{Main|The Godfather Part III}}
[[File:Francis Ford Coppola Cannes.jpg|thumb|Coppola at the [[1996 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
In 1990, he released the third and final chapter of ''The Godfather'' series: ''The Godfather Part III''. Coppola felt that the first two films had told the complete Corleone saga. Coppola intended ''Part III'' to be an epilogue to the first two films.<ref name=pre>{{cite web |url=https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/the-godfather-part-iii-makes-a-little-more-sense-in-the-streaming-era |title='The Godfather: Part III' makes a little more sense in the streaming era |publisher=sfchronicle.com |date=December 26, 2019 |access-date=December 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227100958/https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/the-godfather-part-iii-makes-a-little-more-sense-in-the-streaming-era |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> In his [[audio commentary]] for ''Part II'', he stated that only a dire financial situation caused by the failure of ''[[One from the Heart]]'' (1982) compelled him to take up [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]]'s long-standing offer to make a third installment.<ref name="DVDcom2">{{cite news |work=The Godfather Part II DVD |title=DVD commentary featuring Francis Ford Coppola |date=2005}}</ref> Coppola and Puzo preferred the title ''The Death of Michael Corleone'', but Paramount Pictures found that unacceptable.<ref name=pre/> While not as critically acclaimed as the first two films,<ref name="The Godfather Part III" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thegodfatherpartiiirhinson_a0a9c5.htm |title=The Godfather Part III by Hal Hinson |date=December 25, 1990 |access-date=October 18, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208125614/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/thegodfatherpartiiirhinson_a0a9c5.htm |archive-date=February 8, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/15/the_godfather_part_iii_1990_review.shtml |title=The Godfather Part III (1990) |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315062016/http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2000/12/15/the_godfather_part_iii_1990_review.shtml |archive-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> it was still commercially successful, earning $136&nbsp;million against a $54&nbsp;million budget.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=godfather3.htm |title=The Godfather Part III |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119162248/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=godfather3.htm |archive-date=November 19, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some reviewers criticized the casting of Coppola's daughter [[Sofia Coppola|Sofia]], who stepped into the leading role of [[Mary Corleone]], which was abandoned by [[Winona Ryder]] just as filming began.<ref name="The Godfather Part III">[http://www.reelviews.net/movies/g/godfather3.html The Godfather Part III] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219153651/http://reelviews.net/movies/g/godfather3.html |date=December 19, 2010 }}. Retrieved October 18, 2010.</ref> Despite this, ''The Godfather Part III'' went on to gather seven [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]]. The film failed to win any of these awards, which made it the only film in the trilogy to do so.

In September 2020, for the film's 30th anniversary, it was announced that a new cut of the film titled ''Mario Puzo's The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone'' would have a limited theatrical release in December 2020 followed by digital and Blu-ray.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/francis-ford-coppola-recutting-godfather-part-iii-for-30th-anniversary|title=Adam Beach's 'Monkey Beach' to Open Hybrid Vancouver Film Fest|publisher=hollywoodreporter.com|date=September 3, 2020|access-date=September 3, 2020|archive-date=September 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200904035025/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/francis-ford-coppola-recutting-godfather-part-iii-for-30th-anniversary|url-status=live}}</ref> Coppola said the film is the version he and Puzo had originally envisioned, and it "vindicates" its status among the trilogy and his daughter Sofia's performance.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|date=December 2, 2020|title=How Francis Ford Coppola Got Pulled Back In to Make 'The Godfather, Coda'|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/movies/godfather-coda-francis-ford-coppola.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202100619/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/movies/godfather-coda-francis-ford-coppola.html |archive-date=December 2, 2020 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=December 16, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-says-godfather-part-iii-recut-vindicates-film-daughter-sofia |title= Francis Ford Coppola Says 'Godfather: Part III' Recut Vindicates Film, Daughter Sofia |work= [[The Hollywood Reporter]] |first= Ryan |last= Parker |date= December 3, 2020 |access-date= December 3, 2020 |archive-date= January 26, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210126015557/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/francis-ford-coppola-says-godfather-part-iii-recut-vindicates-film-daughter-sofia |url-status= live }}</ref>

==== ''Bram Stoker's Dracula'' (1992) ====
{{Main|Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992 film)}}
In 1992, Coppola directed and produced ''Bram Stoker's Dracula''. Adapted from [[Bram Stoker]]'s [[Dracula|novel]], it was intended to follow the book more closely than previous film adaptations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://classic-horror.com/reviews/bram_stokers_dracula_1992 |title=Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921232725/http://classic-horror.com/reviews/bram_stokers_dracula_1992 |archive-date=September 21, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Coppola cast [[Gary Oldman]] as the titular role, with [[Keanu Reeves]], [[Winona Ryder]], and [[Anthony Hopkins]] in supporting roles. The movie became a box-office hit, grossing $82,522,790 domestically, making it the 15th highest-grossing film of the year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1992&p=.htm |title=1992 Domestic Grosses |publisher=Boxofficemojo.com |access-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629015451/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1992&p=.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> It fared even better out of the country, grossing $133,339,902 for a total worldwide gross of $215,862,692 against a budget of $40&nbsp;million,<ref>[https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1992/0BRMS.php Movie Dracula – Box Office Data, News, Cast Information] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419225227/http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1992/0BRMS.php |date=April 19, 2009 }} from The Numbers</ref> making it the ninth highest-grossing film of the year worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1992&p=.htm |title=Dracula box-office collections |access-date=November 30, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726204727/http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=1992&p=.htm |archive-date=July 26, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The film won Academy Awards for [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Costume Design]], [[Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling|Makeup]] and [[Academy Award for Best Sound Editing|Sound Editing]].

==== ''Jack'' (1996) ====
{{Main|Jack (1996 film)}}
Coppola's next project was ''Jack'', which was released on August 9, 1996. It starred [[Robin Williams]] as Jack Powell, a ten-year-old boy whose cells are growing at four times the normal rate due to [[Werner syndrome]], which makes him look like a 40-year-old man at the age of ten. With [[Diane Lane]], [[Brian Kerwin]], and [[Bill Cosby]], ''Jack'' also featured [[Jennifer Lopez]], [[Fran Drescher]] and [[Michael McKean]] in supporting roles. Not a box-office success, grossing $58&nbsp;million domestically on an estimated $45&nbsp;million budget,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jack.htm |title=Jack |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190120093705/https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jack.htm |archive-date=January 20, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> it was panned by critics, many of whom disliked the film's abrupt contrast between actual comedy and tragic melodrama.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Blackwelder |first1=Rob |title=SPLICEDwire: "Jack" review |url=http://splicedwire.com/96reviews/jack.html |website=SPLICEDwire |publisher=Rob Blackwelder |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210182425/http://splicedwire.com/96reviews/jack.html |archive-date=December 10, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was also unfavorably compared with the 1988 film ''[[Big (film)|Big]]'', in which [[Tom Hanks]] also played a child in a grown man's body.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=Jack movie review & film summary (1996) |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jack-1996 |website=RogerEbert.com |publisher=Ebert Digital |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021031221/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/jack-1996 |archive-date=October 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Most critics felt that the screenplay was poorly written, not funny, and had unconvincing and unbelievable drama.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baumgarten |first1=Marjorie |title=Jack - Movie Review |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1996-08-09/jack/ |website=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021031222/https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1996-08-09/jack/ |archive-date=October 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Other critics felt that Coppola was too talented to be making this type of film.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Gleiberman |first1=Owen |title=Jack |url=https://ew.com/article/1996/08/09/jack/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021031220/https://ew.com/article/1996/08/09/jack/ |archive-date=October 21, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Although ridiculed for making the film, Coppola has defended it, saying he is not ashamed of the final cut of the movie. He had been friends with Robin Williams for many years and had always wanted to work with him as an actor.<ref>{{cite web |title=Francis Ford Coppola - Biography |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000338/bio#quotes |website=IMDb |publisher=IMDb.com, Inc. |access-date=October 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410032924/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000338/bio#quotes |archive-date=April 10, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> When Williams was offered the screenplay for ''Jack'', he said he would only agree to do it if Coppola agreed to sign on as director.

==== ''The Rainmaker'' (1997) ====
{{Main|The Rainmaker (1997 film)}}
The last film Coppola directed in the 1990s, ''The Rainmaker'', was based on the 1995 [[The Rainmaker (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[John Grisham]]. An ensemble [[Legal drama|courtroom drama]], the film was well received by critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1080867-rainmaker/ |title=The Rainmaker |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=November 21, 1997 |access-date=October 19, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927123727/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1080867-rainmaker/ |archive-date=September 27, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] gave ''The Rainmaker'' three stars out of four, remarking: "I have enjoyed several of the movies based on Grisham novels&nbsp;... but I've usually seen the storyteller's craft rather than the novelist's art being reflected. By keeping all of the little people in focus, Coppola shows the variety of a young lawyer's life, where every client is necessary and most of them need a lot more than a lawyer."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=1997-11-21 |title=''The Rainmaker'' review |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-rainmaker-1997 |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |language=en-US |via=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref> [[James Berardinelli]] also gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "the intelligence and subtlety of ''The Rainmaker'' took me by surprise" and that the film "stands above any other filmed Grisham adaptation."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Berardinelli |first=James |author-link=James Berardinelli |date=1997 |title=''The Rainmaker'' review |url=https://www.reelviews.net/reelviews/rainmaker-the |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Reelviews |language=en}}</ref> Grisham said of the film: "To me it's the best adaptation of any of [my books]&nbsp;... I love the movie. It's so well done."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/2004/02/06/john-grisham-issues-judgment-all-his-novels |title=Grisham v. Grisham: John Grisham issues judgment on all his novels |first=Tina |last=Jordan |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=February 13, 2004 |date=February 6, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626033200/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,587688,00.html |archive-date=June 26, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> The film grossed about $45&nbsp;million domestically,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=rainmaker.htm |title=The Rainmaker (1997) |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607000224/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=rainmaker.htm |archive-date=June 7, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> more than the estimated production budget of $40&nbsp;million, but a disappointment compared to previous films adapted from Grisham novels.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025}}

According to Coppola, starting from this film onwards, he stopped working as a "professional director", preferring to act more like a student who tried to understand what meant making a film, choosing to self-finance some "very small, low-budget" movies. Thus, those films weren't meant to be successful but instead teach him what making films really mean, learning a lout about acting to the point of carrying out unusual rehearsals.<ref name="RollingStoneAug2024">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/francis-ford-coppola-megalopolis-the-godfather-1235068854/|url-access=limited|title=Francis Ford Coppola: 'I Have Nothing Left to Lose'|date=August 25, 2024|first=David|last=Fear|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|access-date=August 27, 2024|archive-date=September 24, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240924060858/https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/francis-ford-coppola-megalopolis-the-godfather-1235068854/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2000–2018: Career fluctuations ===

==== ''Supernova'' re-edit ====
{{Main|Supernova (2000 film)}}
In the late 90's Coppola was a board member of MGM, and in discussion of films they already had which could not be released, ''Supernova'' was among the most expensive. He was approached to supervise several of these, including ''The Fantastiks'' and&nbsp;''Supernova'', which he used his American Zoetrope facility in [[Northern California]]. This work included digitally placing [[Angela Bassett]]'s and [[James Spader]]'s faces on the bodies of (a computer-tinted) [[Robin Tunney]] and [[Peter Facinelli]] so that their characters could have a [[Sex scene|love scene]].<ref name="horn">{{cite news |title=A film named after a disaster of stellar proportions? Hmm...: Supernova: Directed by Walter Hill. And Jack Sholder. And Francis Ford Coppola |last=Horn |first=John |newspaper=National Post |date=January 14, 2000 |page=B3}}</ref> However, Coppola's re-edited version had negative test screening and didn't get the PG-13 rating by the MPAA that the studio wanted. Creature designer [[Patrick Tatopoulos]], whose special effects were mostly cut out from the film, said that [[Walter Hill]] wanted the film to be much more grotesque, strange, and disturbing, while MGM wanted to make it more of a hip, sexy film in space, and not with full-blown makeup effects. "I hope that my experience in the film industry has helped improve the picture and rectified some of the problems that losing a director caused", said Coppola.<ref name="horn"/> By October 1999, [[MGM]] decided to sell the film.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tnmc.org/news/supernova.html |title=TNMC Movies: Bad Movie News: Supernova |work=tnmc.org|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306004240/http://www.tnmc.org/news/supernova.html|archive-date=March 6, 2016}}</ref> The film was eventually released on January 17, 2000, almost two years later than planned.<ref name="super">Lights, camera&nbsp;... new director Harrison, Genevieve. ''The Guardian'' (1959-2003) [London (UK)] June 16, 2000: B8.</ref>
[[File:Francis Ford Coppola(CannesPhotoCall) crop.jpg|thumb|left|Coppola at the [[2001 Cannes Film Festival]]|upright]]
Coppola was the jury president at the [[1996 Cannes Film Festival]] and he also took part as a special guest at the 17th [[Midnight Sun Film Festival]] in [[Sodankylä]], Finland,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/news/sodankyla-forever-explores-legacy-war-34th-starz-denver-154000143.html |title='Sodankyla Forever' Explores Legacy of War at 34th Starz Denver Film Festival |last=Cangialosi |first=Jason |work=[[Yahoo! Movies]] |date=November 14, 2011 |access-date=December 12, 2020 |archive-date=May 18, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518072607/http://movies.yahoo.com/news/sodankyla-forever-explores-legacy-war-34th-starz-denver-154000143.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the 46th International [[Thessaloniki Film Festival]] in [[Thessaloniki]], Greece.

====''Apocalypse Now Redux''====
In the late '90s, Coppola began revisiting his films and creating new director's cuts for release on home video. The first movie to receive this treatment was ''Apocalypse Now''. The new version, ''[[Apocalypse Now Redux]]'', restored 49 minutes that had been cut from the film before its original release in 1979, notably a visit to a French plantation. A number of actors came in to rerecord their lines for the deleted scenes, which were of inconsistent audio quality, and new music was composed. This version was released in cinemas in 2001 and later released on DVD. In 2006, it was collected with the theatrical cut on a deluxe DVD; subsequent home video releases have included both versions.

[[A. O. Scott]] wrote: "''Apocalypse Now Redux'' arrives in this slack season to remind us of a lost era of visionary cinema, a time of creative self-confidence that frequently flirted with hubris, but also a time of risk taking and high seriousness. The artistic vision on display in ''Apocalypse Now'' -- the divine madness that inspired Mr. Coppola to risk his health, his sanity, his fortune and the well-being of his cast, crew and family -- is ultimately less impressive, and less important to the film's durable power, than the art itself."<ref>{{cite news| title= CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Aching Heart of Darkness| last=Scott| first= A. O.| author-link=A. O. Scott| work=[[The New York Times]]| date=August 3, 2001| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/03/movies/critic-s-notebook-aching-heart-of-darkness.html}}</ref>

In 2005, Coppola created a new cut of ''The Outsiders'' for home video. This version, titled ''The Outsiders: The Complete Novel'', added more than 20 minutes of footage and removed three scenes, bringing the film's runtime from 91 minutes to 114 minutes. It also added new music by [[Michael Seifert (producer)|Michael Seifert]] and Dave Pruitt and several period songs to Carmine Coppola's score. Coppola included both the theatrical cut and "The Complete Novel" on all subsequent home video releases.

===Return===
After a ten-year hiatus, Coppola returned to directing with ''[[Youth Without Youth (film)|Youth Without Youth]]'' in 2007, based on the [[Youth Without Youth (novella)|novella of the same name]] by Romanian author [[Mircea Eliade]]. The film received generally negative reviews from critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_without_youth/ |title=Youth Without Youth (2007) |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=December 14, 2007 |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831142242/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/youth_without_youth/ |archive-date=August 31, 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> It was made for about $19&nbsp;million and had a limited release, only managing $2,624,759 at the box-office.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=youthwithoutyouth.htm |title=Youth Without Youth |access-date=October 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110808205320/http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=youthwithoutyouth.htm |archive-date=August 8, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, Coppola announced his plans to produce his own films in order to avoid the marketing input that goes into most films, which are intended to appeal to too wide an audience.

In 2009, Coppola released ''[[Tetro]]''. It was set in [[Argentina]], with the reunion of two brothers. The story follows the rivalries born out of creative differences passed down through generations of an artistic [[Italian diaspora|Italian immigrant]] family.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=39343 |title=Tetro |work=ComingSoon.net |publisher=Coming Soon Media, L.P. |access-date=August 6, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024131708/http://www.comingsoon.net/films.php?id=39343 |archive-date=October 24, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> The film received generally positive reviews from critics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/tetro |title=Tetro (2009): Reviews |website=Metacritic |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615091942/http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/tetro |archive-date=June 15, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="rt">{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tetro/ |title=Tetro Movie Reviews, Pictures |work=Rotten Tomatoes |publisher=IGN Entertainment |access-date=June 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609121609/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/tetro/ |archive-date=June 9, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Rotten Tomatoes]] site's consensus was: "A complex meditation on family dynamics, ''Tetro''{{'s}} arresting visuals and emotional core compensate for its uneven narrative."<ref name="rt" /> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film three stars, praising it for being "boldly operatic, involving family drama, secrets, generations at war, melodrama, romance and violence", Ebert also praised [[Vincent Gallo]]'s performance and claimed that [[Alden Ehrenreich]] is "the new [[Leonardo DiCaprio]]".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?ID=/20090617/REVIEWS/906179993 |title=Tetro Movie Review – Roger Ebert |newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times |access-date=June 23, 2009 |date=June 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606111859/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?ID=%2F20090617%2FREVIEWS%2F906179993 |archive-date=June 6, 2011}}</ref> Todd McCarthy of ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' gave the film a B+, judging that "when Coppola finds creative [[nirvana]], he frequently has trouble delivering the full goods".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940242 |title=Tetro Review |magazine=Variety |date=May 14, 2009 |access-date=June 23, 2023 |first=Todd |last=McCarthy |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090619133820/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117940242.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=tetro |archive-date=June 19, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Richard Corliss]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' gave the film a mixed review, praising Ehrenreich's performance, but claiming Coppola "has made a movie in which plenty happens, but nothing rings true".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1904079,00.html |title=Coppola's Tetro: An Offer You Can Refuse |access-date=June 23, 2023 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=June 11, 2009 |first=Richard |last=Corliss |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615082515/http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1904079,00.html |archive-date=June 15, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The film made $2,636,774 worldwide,<ref>{{cite web |title=Tetro (2009) |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tetro.htm |work=[[Box Office Mojo]] |access-date=July 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003155745/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=tetro.htm |archive-date=October 3, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> against a budget of $5,000,000.

''[[Twixt (film)|Twixt]]'', starring [[Val Kilmer]], [[Elle Fanning]], [[Joanne Whalley]], and [[Bruce Dern]], and narrated by [[Tom Waits]], was released to film festivals in late 2011<ref>{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Davies |url=http://www.horror-asylum.com/news/article.asp?item=8659 |title=International One-Sheet For Francis Ford Coppola's New Mystery Thriller 'Twixt'; Horror Movie Entertainment News and Reviews |publisher=Horror-asylum.com |access-date=November 1, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405155111/http://www.horror-asylum.com/news/article.asp?item=8659 |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and was released theatrically in early 2012. It received critical acclaim in France,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hypable.com/2012/04/13/francis-ford-coppolas-twixt-opens-in-france-to-critical-acclaim/ |title=Francis Ford Coppola's 'Twixt' opens in France to critical acclaim • Hypable |publisher=Hypable.com |date=April 13, 2012 |access-date=November 1, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103031839/http://www.hypable.com/2012/04/13/francis-ford-coppolas-twixt-opens-in-france-to-critical-acclaim/ |archive-date=January 3, 2013}}</ref> but mostly negative reviews elsewhere.<ref>{{cite web |title=Twixt (2012) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twixt/ |website=Rotten Tomatoes |date=July 23, 2013 |access-date=April 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150408032749/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/twixt/ |archive-date=April 8, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2015, Coppola stated{{blockquote|That's why I ended my career: I decided I didn't want to make what you could call 'factory movies' anymore. I would rather just experiment with the form, and see what I could do, and [make things] that came out of my own. And little by little, the commercial film industry went into the superhero business, and everything was on such a scale. The budgets were so big, because they wanted to make the big series of films where they could make two or three parts. I felt I was no longer interested enough to put in the extraordinary effort a film takes [nowadays].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Reason-Francis-Ford-Coppola-Basically-Quit-Making-Movies-86907.html|title=The Reason Francis Ford Coppola Basically Quit Making Movies|publisher=cinemablend.com|date=October 7, 2015|access-date=April 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407214003/https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Reason-Francis-Ford-Coppola-Basically-Quit-Making-Movies-86907.html|archive-date=April 7, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>}}''[[Distant Vision]]'' is a semi-autobiographical unfinished live broadcast project created in real-time. [[Proof of concept]]s were tested before limited audiences at [[Oklahoma City Community College]] in June 2015 and [[UCLA School of Theater]] in July 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://pioneer.occc.edu/hollywood-legend-brings-vision-to-occc/|title=Hollywood legend brings vision to OCCC|access-date=October 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021021253/https://pioneer.occc.edu/hollywood-legend-brings-vision-to-occc/|archive-date=October 21, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Further director's cuts ====
In 2015, Coppola found an old Betamax tape with his original cut of ''The Cotton Club'' and decided to restore it. He had cut about a half hour out of the film before its original release at the insistence of the film's European financial backers. Due to a combination of music rights, the loss of the original negative, audio issues, and MGM's lack of interest in the project, Coppola wound up spending 500,000 dollars of his own money restoring the film.<ref>{{cite news | last=Thompson | first=Anne | title=Francis Ford Coppola: Why He Spent $500K to Restore His Most Troubled Film, 'The Cotton Club' | work=[[IndieWire]] | url=http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/francis-coppola-recut-the-cotton-club-telluride-1201872249/ | date=September 1, 2017 | access-date=September 1, 2017 | archive-date=September 1, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170901205218/http://www.indiewire.com/2017/09/francis-coppola-recut-the-cotton-club-telluride-1201872249/ | url-status=live }}</ref> It was finally finished in 2017 and premiered at the [[Telluride Film Festival]] in 2019 as ''The Cotton Club Encore''.

After finishing work on ''The Cotton Club'', Coppola began work on a director's cut of his first movie, ''Dementia 13''. For this film, Coppola removed several minutes of footage that had been added by the film's producer, Roger Corman.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/home-video/3676684/francis-ford-coppolas-horror-movie-dementia-13-added-vestron-video-blu-ray-series|author=Squires, John|title=Francis Ford Coppola's Horror Movie 'Dementia 13' Being Added to the Vestron Video Blu-ray Series|date=August 4, 2021|website=Bloody Disgusting|access-date=August 4, 2021|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804220654/https://bloody-disgusting.com/home-video/3676684/francis-ford-coppolas-horror-movie-dementia-13-added-vestron-video-blu-ray-series/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, he followed it up with another director's cut of ''Apocalypse Now'', this time called "The Final Cut". It removed 20 minutes of footage that had been included in ''Apocalypse Now Redux'' and restored the film from the original negative for the first time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Falt |first1=Chris |title='Apocalypse Now': 5 Things You Need to Know About Coppola's New 'Final Cut' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/apocalypse-now-final-cut-5-things-to-know-francis-for-coppola-new-version-1202129340/ |website=IndieWire |date=April 29, 2019 |access-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-date=April 30, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430004130/https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/apocalypse-now-final-cut-5-things-to-know-francis-for-coppola-new-version-1202129340/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2020, a [[Re-edited film|re-edit]] of ''Godfather III'', ''The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone'' had a limited theatrical release, followed by digital and Blu-ray release in 2021.<ref name=guardian>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/01/the-godfather-coda-the-death-of-michael-corleone-review-francis-ford-coppola-al-pacino|title=The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone review – Coppola edits the past|work=The Guardian|date=December 1, 2020|access-date=December 5, 2020|author=Peter Bradshaw|archive-date=December 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201215195205/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/dec/01/the-godfather-coda-the-death-of-michael-corleone-review-francis-ford-coppola-al-pacino|url-status=live}}</ref> Coppola stated that ''The Godfather: Part IV'' was never made because Mario Puzo died before they had a chance to write the film.<ref name="gq-magazine.co.uk">{{Cite web |last=Morris |first=Andy |date=March 16, 2011 |url=http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-03/15/gq-film-godfather-part-four/mario-puzo |title=The Godfather Part IV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308111813/http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/entertainment/articles/2011-03/15/gq-film-godfather-part-four/mario-puzo |url-status=dead |work=[[GQ]] |archive-date=March 8, 2012 |access-date=March 26, 2020}}</ref> [[Andy García]] has since claimed the film's script was nearly produced.<ref name="gq-magazine.co.uk" />

Coppola's most recent director's cut to date was ''B'Twixt Now and Sunrise'', a shortened version of his film ''Twixt''. It was given a select re-release in 2022.<ref>{{cite tweet|user=RialtoPictures|number=1575573145699827712|author=Rialto Pictures|title=Kick off spooky season with a double feature of two of Francis Ford Coppola's darkest films — B'TWIXT NOW AND SUNRISE, starring Val Kilmer & Elle Fanning, and DEMENTIA 13, his first film — at @alamodrafthouse locations nationwide starting tomorrow!|access-date=January 11, 2023}}</ref>

At the [[94th Academy Awards]], they celebrated the 50th anniversary of ''[[The Godfather (film)|The Godfather]]''. Coppola attended alongside [[Robert De Niro]] and [[Al Pacino]] who were greeted with a standing ovation.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/francis-ford-coppola-s-the-godfather-receives-50-year-tribute-at-oscars-2022-news-188895|title= Francis Ford Coppola's 'The Godfather' Receives 50-Year Tribute At Oscars 2022|website= Outlook|date= March 28, 2022|accessdate= August 2, 2023|archive-date= August 2, 2023|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230802125021/https://www.outlookindia.com/art-entertainment/francis-ford-coppola-s-the-godfather-receives-50-year-tribute-at-oscars-2022-news-188895|url-status= live}}</ref>

=== 2019–present ===

==== ''Megalopolis'' (2024) ====
{{Main|Megalopolis (film)}}
In April 2019, Coppola announced that he planned to direct ''Megalopolis'', which he had been developing for many years prior.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blog.moviefone.com/2007/05/09/francis-ford-coppola-says-he-has-abandoned-megalopolis-project/ |title=Francis Ford Coppola Says He Has Abandoned 'Megalopolis' Project |work=The Moviefone Blog |access-date=October 18, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612021843/http://blog.moviefone.com/2007/05/09/francis-ford-coppola-says-he-has-abandoned-megalopolis-project/|archive-date=June 12, 2012}}</ref> Speaking to ''[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]'', he said: "I plan this year to begin my longstanding ambition to make a major work utilizing all I have learned during my long career, beginning at age 16 doing theater, and that will be an epic on a grand scale, which I've titled ''Megalopolis''."<ref>{{cite web |first=Mike Jr. |last=Fleming |url=https://deadline.com/2019/04/francis-ford-coppola-megalopolis-directing-this-year-1202588167/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404011947/https://deadline.com/2019/04/francis-ford-coppola-megalopolis-directing-this-year-1202588167/ |title=Francis Ford Coppola Ready To Make 'Megalopolis' And Is Eyeing Cast |website=[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]] |date=April 3, 2019 |access-date=August 18, 2019 |archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> He had planned to direct the movie, a story about the aftermath and reconstruction of New York City after a mega-disaster, many years earlier, but after the real-life disaster of the [[September 11 attacks]], the project was seen as being too sensitive.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bangstyle.com/2012/04/best-films-never-made/ |title=10 Best Films Never Made |publisher=Bangstyle.com |date=April 17, 2012 |access-date=May 25, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531165626/http://www.bangstyle.com/2012/04/best-films-never-made/ |archive-date=May 31, 2013}}</ref>

In August 2021, it was announced that Coppola had begun discussions with actors for the project and that he was aiming to begin principal photography in the fall of 2022.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://collider.com/francis-coppola-megalopolis-cast-oscar-isaac-forest-whitaker-jessica-lange-zendaya/ |title=Francis Coppola Eyeing Oscar Isaac, Forest Whitaker, Jessica Lange, Zendaya, and More for His Long-Awaited 'Megalopolis' |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |first=Maggie |last=Lovitt |date=August 30, 2021 |access-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-date=September 1, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901171622/https://collider.com/francis-coppola-megalopolis-cast-oscar-isaac-forest-whitaker-jessica-lange-zendaya/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2022, it was reported that filming was to take place from September 6, 2022, to February 2, 2023. In May 2022, the star cast was revealed: [[Adam Driver]], [[Forest Whitaker]], [[Nathalie Emmanuel]], [[Jon Voight]], and [[Laurence Fishburne]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=May 12, 2022 |title=Francis Coppola Sets 'Megalopolis' Cast: Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jon Voight & Filmmaker's 'Apocalypse Now' Teen Discovery Laurence Fishburne |url=https://deadline.com/2022/05/francis-coppola-megalopolis-adam-driver-forest-whitaker-nathalie-emmanuel-jon-voight-laurence-fishburne-1235022150/ |access-date=May 13, 2022 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512170307/https://deadline.com/2022/05/francis-coppola-megalopolis-adam-driver-forest-whitaker-nathalie-emmanuel-jon-voight-laurence-fishburne-1235022150/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In July, it was reported that filming would instead begin in November 2022 at [[Trilith Studios]] in [[Fayetteville, Georgia|Fayetteville]], [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ho |first=Rodney |date=July 13, 2022 |title=Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' with Adam Driver coming to shoot in Georgia |url=https://www.ajc.com/life/radiotvtalk-blog/francis-ford-coppolas-megalopolis-with-adam-driver-coming-to-shoot-in-georgia/5MMBIQIVW5ALLGB23JLXOL2JU4/ |access-date=August 31, 2022 |website=[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution]] |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713205309/https://www.ajc.com/life/radiotvtalk-blog/francis-ford-coppolas-megalopolis-with-adam-driver-coming-to-shoot-in-georgia/5MMBIQIVW5ALLGB23JLXOL2JU4/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McCall |first=Kevin |date=July 14, 2022 |title=Francis Ford Coppola's Passion Project 'Megalopolis' to Shoot in Georgia |url=https://collider.com/megalopolis-filming-georgia-francis-ford-coppola-adam-driver/ |access-date=August 31, 2022 |website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |language=en-US |archive-date=November 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221102133726/https://collider.com/megalopolis-filming-georgia-francis-ford-coppola-adam-driver/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In August, it was revealed that [[Aubrey Plaza]], [[Talia Shire]], [[Shia LaBeouf]], [[Jason Schwartzman]], [[Kathryn Hunter]], [[Laurence Fishburne]], [[James Remar]], and [[Grace VanderWaal]] joined the cast.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kroll |first=Justin |date=August 22, 2022 |title=Aubrey Plaza Joins Adam Driver In Francis Coppola's 'Megalopolis' |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/aubrey-plaza-adam-driver-in-francis-ford-coppolas-megalopolis-1235097921/ |access-date=August 23, 2022 |website=Deadline |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126164945/https://deadline.com/2022/08/aubrey-plaza-adam-driver-in-francis-ford-coppolas-megalopolis-1235097921/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Grobar |first=Matt |date=August 31, 2022 |title='Megalopolis': Shia LaBeouf & Jason Schwartzman Among Six New Additions To Francis Ford Coppola Epic |url=https://deadline.com/2022/08/megalopolis-shia-labeouf-jason-schwartzman-join-francis-ford-coppola-epic-1235104721/ |access-date=August 31, 2022 |website=Deadline |language=en-US |archive-date=August 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831205318/https://deadline.com/2022/08/megalopolis-shia-labeouf-jason-schwartzman-join-francis-ford-coppola-epic-1235104721/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In early October, it was announced that [[Chloe Fineman]], [[Dustin Hoffman]], Bailey Ives, Isabelle Kusman, and [[D.B. Sweeney]] would also be joining the cast.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fleming|first=Mike Jr.|date=October 4, 2022|title=Francis Coppola Sets Final Casting For Epic 'Megalopolis'; Film Shooting This Fall In Georgia|url=https://deadline.com/2022/10/francis-coppola-sets-final-casting-for-epic-megalopolis-film-shooting-this-fall-in-georgia-1235134774/|access-date=October 12, 2022|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|archive-date=October 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004171622/https://deadline.com/2022/10/francis-coppola-sets-final-casting-for-epic-megalopolis-film-shooting-this-fall-in-georgia-1235134774/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On February 29, 2024, ''[[Deadline Hollywood|Deadline]]'' reported that ''Megalopolis'' will be released in [[IMAX]] in Fall 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wiseman |first1=Andreas |title=Cannes 2024: What's In The Mix? (Part One) |url=https://deadline.com/2024/02/cannes-film-festival-2024-movies-furiosa-george-miller-coppola-sorrentino-1235841515/ |access-date=February 29, 2024 |work=Deadline Hollywood |date=February 29, 2024 |archive-date=May 15, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240515174947/https://deadline.com/2024/02/cannes-film-festival-2024-movies-furiosa-george-miller-coppola-sorrentino-1235841515/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On April 9, 2024, it was revealed that ''Megalopolis'' would be premiering in competition at the [[2024 Cannes Film Festival|77th Cannes Film Festival]].

==== Future projects ====
{{Main|Francis Ford Coppola's unrealized projects}}
In August 2024, one month ahead of the release of ''Megalopolis'', Coppola told ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' that he is not going to retire after his longtime passion project's release, intending to work on two projects: an adaptation of ''[[The Glimpses of the Moon (Wharton novel)|The Glimpses of the Moon]]'' with "strong dance and musical elements"<ref>{{cite news|last=Collin|first=Robbie|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/director-francis-ford-coppola-interview/|title=Francis Ford Coppola: 'Hollywood doesn't want me any more'|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=September 13, 2024|access-date=September 15, 2024|archive-date=September 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240915001308/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/director-francis-ford-coppola-interview/|url-status=live}}</ref> he plans to produce in [[England]] and ''[[Distant Vision]]'', a "live cinema" project he's been working on since 2015 that tells the fictionalized story of three generations within an [[Italian Americans|Italian American]] family during the phenomenon of [[television]]'s invention.<ref name="RollingStoneAug2024" />