Francis Ford Coppola

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q56094: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as director, the making department they hold the most credits in. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: The Godfather (1972); The Godfather Part II (1974); Apocalypse Now (1979); One from the Heart (1982); The Outsiders (1983); The Cotton Club (1984); Peggy Sue Got Married (1986); Gardens of Stone (1987); Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988); Godfather 3 (1990); Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992); Megalopolis (2024); Apocalypse Now (Redux); Francis Ford Coppola's career; New York Stories; Tetro; The Godfather Part III (Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone); The Rainmaker; Twixt; Youth Without Youth. Count them as studio (1 film) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Mario Puzo: 1 line

craft (craft) · through The Godfather (1972), which they directed: Mario Puzo ⇒ The Godfather (the host's read). Coppola cut huge sections of Puzo's novel, as Gray cut Grann's book.
“even there, Francis took out huge sections of the book and made very interesting decisions.”
The Big Picture · ‘The Lost City of Z’ Director James Gray | The Big Picture (Ep. 9) · 0:23:12 · James Gray (0.90 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Tombstone (1993): 2 lines

craft (craft) · through The Godfather (1972), which they directed: The Godfather ⇒ Tombstone (the maker said so: Russell, in his True West magazine interview). Russell's intended tone was a Western Godfather; Jarre's version was more elegant.
“Well, Russell says it, it was basically the godfather of Westerns.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:10:03 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
craft (craft) · through The Godfather (1972), which they directed: The Godfather ⇒ Tombstone (the host's read). The Oriental faro takeover shows the Godfather-like business side Russell wanted.
“You could see the godfather thing that Russell's talking about when he moves into Tombstone and immediately takes over the Faro game at the Oriental.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Tombstone’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:33:55 · Chris Ryan (0.50 sure it was them)

Dead Presidents (1995): 1 line

craft (craft) · through Apocalypse Now (1979), which they directed: Apocalypse Now ⇒ Dead Presidents (the host's read). The Hughes brothers kept an Apocalypse Now poster; the film borrows its helicopter shots.
“The directors were big time movie obsessives, who kept an apocalypse now poster on the wall of their Hollywood studio.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 0:50:27 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019): 1 line

lineage (visual influence) · through Apocalypse Now (1979), which they directed: Apocalypse Now ⇒ Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (the host's read). The dogs at Spahn Ranch play the role of the Duvall helicopters, constantly present and disorienting.
“He wanted the dogs to be the helicopters.”
The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:37:25 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)

Saving Private Ryan (1998): 1 line

lineage (lineage) · through Apocalypse Now (1979), which they directed: Apocalypse Now ⇒ Saving Private Ryan (the host's read). Two decades of Apocalypse Now, Platoon and Born made Ryan's grit necessary.
“By the time Saving Private Ryan was released, moviegoers have spent two decades being confronted by the likes of Apocalypse Now in Platoon and born in the Fourth of July.”
The Big Picture · 8. I Love America | Do We Get to Win This Time? · 1:00:36 · Brian Raftery (0.90 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

What was said about them, by kind

career (5)

career (career): Francis Ford Coppola → One from the Heart. Coppola has re-cut his maligned films, with some redux versions worse.
“The one from the heart redux, I would argue, actually makes the film worse.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:56:18 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Francis Ford Coppola → Megalopolis. Coppola seems to be closing the book on his career with recuts, then Megalopolis.
“The last, like, 10 years in the next movie. to Megalopolis when his field, like, felt like Francis Coppola is trying to sort of close the book on his whole career.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 2:56:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career parallel): Bob Fosse → Francis Ford Coppola. Both followed a run of 70s masterpieces (Cabaret/Godfather, Lenny/Godfather II, All That Jazz/Apocalypse Now) with a decline.
“Cabaret, Godfather, Godfather to Lenny, all that jazz apocalypse now.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Star 80 with Julie Klausner · 1:56:39 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): James Cameron → Francis Ford Coppola. Cameron's long-gestating Avatar is compared to Coppola's Megalopolis.
“It's very similar Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola vibes”
The Big Picture · The Great ‘Avatar’ Debate with Blank Check’s Griffin Newman and David Sims · 0:27:18 · Sean Fennessey (0.70 sure it was them)
career (career): William Friedkin → Francis Ford Coppola. Friedkin's 2000s run is likened to Coppola doing The Rainmaker: journeyman work after a long gap.
“It's kind of like when Copola did the rainmaker and stuff.”
Blank Check — Patreon · The 13th Warrior with David Lowery (Ad-Free) · 2:07:51 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

contrast (3)

contrast (contrast): Steven Spielberg → Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola and Scorsese are viewed romantically for loving their work; Spielberg isn't.
“Whereas like with Scorsese and with Coppola, Coppola, who really his career completely fell apart in the early 80s”
The Big Picture · Steven Spielberg's Top 5 Movies With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan | The Big Picture (Ep. 57) · 0:55:02 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Sofia Coppola → Francis Ford Coppola. Sofia could meet Francis in the next round if both advance.
“We are one set of matchups away from Sofia having to go up against Francis.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:49:50 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Ridley Scott → Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola would rather fail on his own terms; Scott is comfortable as the company man who meets the studio halfway.
“And Ridley Scott is an odd guy because I think he very much is comfortable with just being the company man in certain ways”
Blank Check — Patreon · Alien: Covenant · 0:15:26 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

industry (3)

industry (industry): Francis Ford Coppola → Ronnie Rocket. Lynch came close to making Ronnie Rocket at Zoetrope.
“He actually comes close now because he has real clout, Zoatrope, Francis Ford Coppola's, you know, House of Madness.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Dune with John Hodgman · 1:00:35 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Francis Ford Coppola → Apocalypse Now. Coppola could not escape monsoons and Martin Sheen's heart attack on the long shoot.
“there was monsoons and Martin Sheen had a heart attack”
The Big Picture · ‘The Lost City of Z’ Director James Gray | The Big Picture (Ep. 9) · 0:11:20 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Megalopolis → Francis Ford Coppola. Megalopolis made Coppola feel more like a blank-check director.
“I do think Megalopolis made him feel a little more... a blank checkie.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:51:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

people (1)

people (director): Tucker: The Man and His Dream → Francis Ford Coppola. Bridges' Tucker was directed by Coppola.
“Have you seen Tuckerman in his dream, the FFC?”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Fearless with Timothy Simons · 0:46:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

programming (1)

programming (programming): Francis Ford Coppola → Bram Stoker's Dracula. Dracula appears on both brackets, via Coppola and the Sony hot monsters.
“Bram Stoker's Dracula, obviously, basically included on both brackets this year”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:46:25 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

unmapped (1)

unmapped (blank check): Francis Ford Coppola → The Cotton Club. Coppola re-edited Cotton Club and plans to self-finance Megalopolis.
“He actually had some news about him today and he, you know, has re-edited it.”
Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 2:22:55 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

verdict (2)

verdict (verdict): My Cousin Vinny → Francis Ford Coppola. Macchio recalls Coppola saying time is what makes a great movie; Vinny is one of those that aged into it.
“we concurred that what defines a great movie is time.”
The Rewatchables · ‘My Cousin Vinny’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Wesley Morris · 0:10:28 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Francis Ford Coppola → Edgar Wright. Coppola beat Wright on Megalopolis recency.
“Now, Francis Procopola beat Edgar Wright.”
Blank Check — Patreon · 2025 March Madness Update 1 · 0:51:26 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

what-if (1)

what-if (what-if casting): Timothy Carey → Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola wanted Carey for Luca Brasi in The Godfather.
“He wanted Timothy Carey to play Luca Brasi in The Godfather”
Blank Check — Patreon · The Killing with Patton Oswalt (Ad-Free) · 0:31:36 · David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

None.