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Matt Damon Replaces Oscar Winner (Photo Credit – Hotstar)

Hollywood actor Matt Damon is regarded as one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. Initially, he gained recognition when he played the lead role in Francis Ford Coppola’s legal drama ‘The Rainmaker.’ He climbed the popularity charts by starring in the Oscar-winning drama ‘Good Will Hunting’ and the psychological thriller ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’. But the film that made him a household name was ‘The Bourne Identity’. Did you know Matt Damon was not the first actor who was approached to play the lead role in that film?

Matt Damon Replaced This Oscar Winner in The Bourne Identity

Before Matt Damon was finally cast as the titular protagonist in ‘The Bourne Identity’, another Hollywood star was approached for the role of Jason Bourne. And he was none other than the Academy Award-winning actor-filmmaker Brad Pitt. Brad Pitt could not star...

Four-time Academy Award winner Milena Canonero was honored with the Locarno Film Festival’s Vision Award on August 10, recognizing a career that spans landmark collaborations from Stanley Kubrick to Wes Anderson and Francis Ford Coppola. The tribute included an onstage conversation at the festival’s Spazio Cinema, where Canonero reflected on her path from Kubrick’s sets to recent work with Anderson and her latest collaboration on Coppola’s Megalopolis. Festival materials also noted that she would introduce Megalopolis during the event.

The Vision Award, presented by Ticinomoda, spotlights behind-the-camera artists whose craft has shaped film language; recent recipients have ranged from sound designers to editors and visual effects innovators. Locarno said Canonero’s honor acknowledges the influence of her designs across decades and genres.

Canonero’s filmography includes Kubrick’s The Shining, Hugh Hudson’s Chariots of Fire, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette, and multiple films with Anderson, culminating...

Milena Canonero, the legendary Italian costume designer known for her collaborations with the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Wes Anderson, Sofia Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty and others, made a rare public speaking appearance in Switzerland, in which she provided insight into her career.

During a talk at the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival, where she received this year’s Vision Award on Sunday evening, Canonero recalled her first meeting with Anderson at the Chateau Marmont to discuss The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. “He was really friendly and open-minded,” she said, according to a live translation. “Of course, I was familiar with his movies, including the very early ones. So I was very happy to get to know him.”

Different directors have different focus areas, of course. “Wes is very much involved with the look of his characters,” the costume design legend highlighted. “Objects, decorations, and all...

When Emilia Clarke Said That The Avengers Movies Were Silly & Then Joined The MCU With Marvel’s Secret Invasion( Photo Credit – IMDb )

Emilia Clarke is not an unknown name. She became popular as Game of Thrones’ Khaleesi, aka Daenerys Targaryen. She became a household name because of the gory HBO series based on George Rr Martin’s works. She joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe, aka MCU, with Secret Invasion, but a few years before the Marvel series, the actress made a not-so-likable comment about Marvel movies, such as the Avengers films. Scroll below for more.

Clarke appeared in the leading role in the miniseries Secret Invasion. She plays Gi’ah, daughter of Talos, who works for Gravik [leader of rebel Skrulls], but things change by the end of the series. The show did not get such a good response from the fans. The critics rated it 52% on Tomatometer, and the Audience Score is 46% overall on Rotten Tomatoes.

From posthumous footage of a cloaked Bela Lugosi stumbling through graveyards in “Plan 9 From Outer Space” to David Niven appearing in blackface at the end of “Vampira,” Dracula has endured far worse over the years than anything director Radu Jude can do to the character. But that doesn’t stop the cinematic prankster from trying to make his epically sloppy, almost-three-hour “Dracula” into the most exploitative interpretation of the character yet — a position Jude adopts on purpose.

After debuting his relatively respectable decline-of-Western-civilization satire “Kontinental ’25” at the Berlinale in February, the prolific Romanian auteur unleashes a second 2025 project at Locarno, where his rowdy “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” debuted two years earlier. An outrageous celebration of visual storytelling in all its forms, from TikTok to silent film, Jude’s chaotic anti-art statement is the first “Dracula” designed to suck.

So you can...

Alden Ehrenreich has discussed the link between his new movie Weapons and school shootings.In Zach Cregger’s horror movie, Alden, 35, stars as a police officer whose small town is rocked by the sudden and mysterious disappearance of 17 children and Alden admitted there is “clearly some relationship” between school shootings and the movie.He told Variety: “Trying to boil it down to a thesis is probably in vain, I think this story is more like a dream. It’s more poetic than rational. We had some conversations, [for instance] there is a moment where a gun appears in the sky.“I think there’s clearly some relationship between that gun and a bunch of missing children and school shootings. He didn’t say that, but to me it feels like it’s there in a poetic sense. The thing that feels more concrete to me is that all of these characters are...

Despite being its most obvious inspiration, Martin Scorsese reportedly did not like The Sopranos because of all the New Jersey trees in the show. The HBO crime drama, created by David Chase and starring Michael Gandolfini, followed Tony Soprano, the head of the crime family in New Jersey, and his everyday life. It covered not only his criminal activities but also his home life and mental health.

Chase has credited Scorsese’s Goodfellas multiple times for inspiring the show, but the filmmaker reportedly did not take to the New Jersey setting. Scorsese rejected the series, claiming that he did not understand the life Chase was trying to depict (via THR).

I think I only saw one episode … because I can’t identify with that generation of the underworld. They live in New Jersey with the big houses? I don’t get it. They use language – four-letter words – in front of their daughters,...

Everything in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" is perfect, even when it isn't. In a script that often reads like poetry, it's well documented that some of the most beloved moments in one of the greatest crime movies ever made were simply happy accidents. James Caan's Sonny tossing money to photographers for a broken camera was a snapshot of spontaneity, and even Don Corleone's opening conversation was made all the more unsettling thanks to Marlon Brando bringing a stray cat to the scene and creating one of the most memorable character introductions in cinema history.

Among the essential improvisations that make "The Godfather" a masterpiece is the darkly humorous and incredibly heartless death of a traitor -- and the retrieval of a pastry that would be recited for decades. In the tense and tightly orchestrated assassination of Pauli Gatto (John Martino), a respected capo and dedicated member of the Corleone family,...

Spoiler Alert: This article contains minor spoilers about “Weapons,” now playing in theaters.

Halfway through opening weekend, Zach Cregger’s genre-blending horror movie “Weapons” is giving audiences more than ghastly thrills and gallows humor – the film is helping its established cast show some versatility in a wholly original script.

Unexpected and aggressive performances from Amy Madigan, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong and Julia Garner abound in the project, which is certainly true of another key player: Alden Ehrenreich. The once “It” boy muse of the Coen Brothers and, later, an attempted franchise starter in the world of Star Wars, Ehrenreich shines as a stunted Podunk cop whose town is rocked by the wee hours disappearance of 17 children.

Ehrenreich’s Paul is trapped in a marriage he doesn’t want, working for his sheriff father-in-law and occasionally backsliding into addiction with an old flame and fellow fuck-up played by Garner. Neither is...

Amongst the many discussions to be had about the state of Hollywood revolves around the concept of the movie star. Over the last two decades, it appears that audiences have flocked to theaters primarily for pre-existing intellectual properties, with franchises such as Marvel, DC, and "Star Wars" dominating the box office. In some cases, the filmmaker may serve as the marquee, particularly if your name is Christopher Nolan, where you have earned so much trust after years of quality filmmaking with audiences that a three-hour R-rated biopic like "Oppenheimer" can nearly gross $1 billion at the box office. With that in mind, star power no longer carries the same weight that it used to, but there are a few actors who still command such prestige with each of their new releases. One of those actors is Academy Award-winner Leonardo DiCaprio.

In an age where the aura of movie stars seemingly fades,...

In the nascent days of the pandemic, many found themselves participating in activities that would otherwise have been deemed out-of-character (see: sourdough, jigsaw puzzles, ceramics.) Alden Ehrenreich, the actor who played a young Han Solo and has worked with everyone from the Coen Brothers to Park Chan-wook, found himself Googling Los Angeles commercial real estate.

For years, Ehrenreich would walk into various spaces — friends’ houses, restaurants, anywhere with a semi-raised platform, really — and offer the same refrain: “You could do a theater here.” The pandemic-induced downtime gave him the space to finally pursue a long-held desire to open a theater in Los Angeles. And the Google search led him to Huron Substation, a historical building in the Cypress Park neighborhood in the northeast of the city.

Originally built as a service station for Los Angeles’s one-time Yellow trolley cars up until the 1960s, Huron has been more recently used...

Robert Schwartzman, who found critical success with his recent documentary about the British Invasion band The Zombies, has begun work on another music doc, this one about Las Vegas legend Wayne Newton.

The director revealed that the “Danke Schoen” singer would be his next subject Thursday night during a Q&a session that followed a screening of Hung Up on a Dream: The Zombies Documentary (2023) at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Newton, 83, was just a teenager when he began performing in Las Vegas with his older brother, Jerry, and the colorful live performer has logged tens of thousands of performances in the city — and he’s still going strong.

Born in Virginia and raised in Arizona, Newton was generously given “Danke Schoen” to record in the early 1960s by “Mack the Knife” singer Bobby Darin, and the song peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He also had another...

Dracula is back on the big screen with a vengeance, courtesy of none other than Romanian provocateur Radu Jadu (Kontinental ’25, Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn, Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World). Befitting the iconoclastic filmmaker’s reputation, of course, he is taking you on a bloody wild and absurd, dare we say — insane — cinematic ride to explore the legendary cinema myth in Dracula, world premiering in the competition program of the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland on Aug. 10. In the process, he aims to not only dissect Dracula, but cinema itself.

In fact, with the movie made on Dracula’s home turf, namely Transylvania, Jude really sinks his teeth into the most famous vampire and different dimensions of his image, as well as AI. After all, the film shows a young filmmaker working with an AI system to craft various filmic takes on Dracula.

Now in its third year, Netflix’s The Paris Theater has today announced the full lineup for its much-enjoyed Big & Loud screening series, available exclusively on IndieWire. Per today’s release, the screening series “will deliver four consecutive weeks of cinema’s most unforgettable sensory experiences with a jam-packed lineup of 70mm, Dolby Atmos, and audio-obsessive cinema.”

This year’s series will kick off August 29 and run through September 25, and will put Manhattan’s largest Atmos theater to the test with 41 films, including 13 films on 70mm, and 6 films presented with special Dolby Atmos sound mixes. Per Netflix, the series aims to offer “a completely immersive experience, with picture and sound that allows audiences to fully immerse in the worlds onscreen, reveals new details to even the most seasoned filmgoers, and brings the intricate, thoughtful sound design of some of cinema history’s most gifted film artists to life.”

As has...

Filmmaker Kayci Lacob knew she wanted to capture everything about growing up in the heart of Silicon Valley during the early-2000s tech boom for her directorial debut. She also knew that her first film deserved to be in theaters, and so Lacob did what most established auteurs are still hesitant to do (other than Francis Ford Coppola with “Megalopolis”): She is self-distributing her debut “Everything to Me” for a theatrical run and “betting” on audiences to buy tickets.

“Everything to Me” isn’t without star power. “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Ponyboi,” and “You” actress Victoria Pedretti leads the film as Claudia, a woman reflecting on her career trajectory and life choices years after aspiring to be the next Steve Jobs as a Stanford freshman (Abigail Donaghy plays a younger version of the character). But this isn’t an Elizabeth Holmes story gone awry: “Everything to Me” is...

A special installment of “Daily Variety” podcast takes a deep look at the storied history of Paramount Pictures as David Ellison’s Skydance Media formally takes control of the studio after a long slog to closing the deal with Shari Redstone’s National Amusements Inc.

Jeanine Basinger, a respected Hollywood historian and film professor emerita at Wesleyan University, details the origin story of the film factory and what made Paramount unique from the start. Peter Debruge and Owen Gleiberman, Variety‘s chief film critics, weigh in on the qualitative value of the riches in Paramount’s vaults. And to look ahead at what’s in store for the company, MoffettNathanson media analyst Robert Fishman discusses what Wall Street hopes to see from the new owners.

Related Content: ‘Today Marks Day One of a New Paramount,’ David Ellison Says as Sale Finally Closes

Basinger, who has penned numerous books on Hollywood’s early history,...

Aubrey Plaza is set to portray one of Hollywood's most infamous figures, Heidi Fleiss, in an upcoming film, the sensibly titled The Heidi Fleiss Story. Per Variety, theWhite Lotus star will not only lead the project but also produce it under her Evil Hag banner. The feature will be directed by Leah Rachel, the creator behind the polarizing Netflix supernatural thriller Chambers.

Fleiss became a notorious figure in the 1990s due to a headline-making scandal. In 1993, she was arrested and charged for running a high-end ring of sex workers that catered to wealthy and influential clients, some of whom were reportedly big names in the entertainment industry. She was famously dubbed the "Hollywood Madam." Her eventual conviction on federal charges, which included pandering, money laundering, and tax evasion, led to her serving 20 months in prison.

The upcoming film, which is described as a dark comedy, is set to explore a specific period of Fleiss's life,...

Here's something we didn’t have on our 2025 bingo card: Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver are being used to deter wolves from attacking cattle on farms across the nation. Now that you've stopped laughing, we can tell you that it's true, as a new report from The Wall Street Journal goes into great detail to describe how the Usda is using "drone cowhands" to fend off the wolves and save livestock.

Part of the strategy involves using drones equipped with thermal cameras to expose wolves and bathe them in bright lights. Once spotted, a loudspeaker blasts all sorts of irritating noise, including the heated argument between Johansson and Driver that's featured in the Oscar-winning 2019 Netflix movie, Marriage Story. The strategy seems to be working, as after wolves killed 11 cows in the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon over a 20-day period, drones were deployed to knock that number back to just two deaths over 85 days.

Aubrey Plaza is set to star in and produce The Heidi Fleiss Story, a biopic of “Hollywood madam” Heidi Fleiss from Pinky Promise, the production company behind the Pamela Anderson drama The Last Showgirl, Deadline has confirmed.

The dark comedy marks the directorial debut of Leah Rachel, the creator of Netflix series Chambers. Rachel Sennott, the actress known for roles in titles like Shiva Baby and Bottoms, who has her own upcoming HBO series, penned the script with Rachel and Travis Jackson. Jessamine Burgum and Kara Durrett will produce for Pinky Promise, alongside Plaza for Evil Hag, with production to take place in Los Angeles this year.

Fleiss became known in the 1990s for running a high-profile prostitution ring that catered to the rich and powerful of Los Angeles, including some in Hollywood. Her empire came crashing down in 1993, when she was arrested and charged with multiple counts, including pandering,...

Aubrey Plaza’s call sheet is about to get a lot longer, as she’s come on to produce and star in “The Heidi Fleiss Story.”

Plaza will portray the infamous “Hollywood madam” Heidi Fleiss, busted in the early ‘90s for what was said to be the world’s largest high-end prostitution ring – which implicated Hollywood, politicians and other power figures.

The project marks the directorial debut of Leah Rachel (creator of Netflix’s “Chambers”). The film hails from Pinky Promise, Jessamine Burgum and Kara Durrett’s production company.

Heatseeking actress and Gen Z icon Rachel Sennott co-wrote the script with Rachel and Travis Jackson. Their take on the tabloid sensation follows Fleiss before trial, scrambling around Los Angeles trying to blackmail and leverage various connections to get the case dropped, with the help of an aspiring young writer named Jaclyn.

Production is set for Los Angeles in the coming months.

Francis Ford Coppola provides a hopeful health update. The 86-year-old director has been working in the industry for decades, and is among one of the most celebrated directors of all time. He is known for seminal movies like The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation.

Despite approaching 90, Coppola is still working today. Last year, he released his notoriously fraught movie Megalopolis, which was met with intense responses. The movie bombed at the box office and received enough criticism to even warrant Razzie nominations and "wins." Nonetheless, Coppola is still touring the country with the film.

Speaking on Instagram, Coppola provides a health update after a recent scare. The director said that he was "fine." He said "I am well" and noted that he is under good care.

View this post on InstagramA post shared by Francis Ford Coppola (@francisfordcoppola)

He explained that he is "taking an opportunity while in Rome...

Francis Ford Coppola is recovering in a Rome hospital after undergoing what his spokesman called a “long-planned update” to treat atrial fibrillation, a heart-rhythm disorder the 86-year-old director has managed for three decades.

The procedure was performed Tuesday at Policlinico Tor Vergata by cardiologist Andrea Natale; doctors say the filmmaker is “stable and doing fine,” with discharge expected later this week. Winner of five Academy Awards, Coppola had been staying at his family’s Palazzo Margherita hotel in Bernalda when routine tests indicated the need for the tune-up.

He travelled to the appointment by car and later posted a smiling photograph on Instagram, writing “I am well” to reassure supporters alarmed by early media reports suggesting an emergency admission. A representative added that the visit had been on the calendar for months and rejected claims of a cardiac scare, noting that the director’s blood oxygen remained normal throughout.

Coppola...

Francis Ford Coppola is speaking out about his hospitalization in Italy.

The 86-year-old director was reported to be resting in the hospital after undergoing a medical procedure for his heart.

After reports surfaced, Francis shared an update and confirmed what he had done.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30 year old afib procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor – Dr. Andrea Natale! I am well!” the filmmaker shared on Instagram.

There were reports that the procedure was heart surgery and that he was experiencing a “mild cardiac arrhythmia” prior to the procedure, and his AFib procedure update would align with this. AFib, which is a “chaotic heart signaling causes a rapid, uncoordinated heartbeat,” is a type of tachychardia that falls under a cardiac arrhythmia, per Mayo Clinic.

Earlier this year,...

Hours after news that he has been hospitalized in Rome for heart-related reasons, Francis Ford Coppola assured fans he is doing just fine in a post Tuesday evening on Instagram.

“Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30 year old afib procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor – Dr. Andrea Natale! I am well!” the director wrote.

As first reported by local media, Coppola was hospitalized in Rome for mild heart arrhythmia shortly after the conclusion of his U.S. tour for his film “Megalopolis,” local Italian media reported Tuesday.

The six-time Oscar winner had scheduled the visit with Natale, his doctor of more than 30 years, while in Rome. Just before the procedure, doctors noticed the arrhythmia, and thus kept Coppola for observation, according to local media reports.

Just before flying to Rome, Coppola had attended...

Francis Ford Coppola, the five-time Oscar-winning filmmaker, recently gave everyone a health scare when reports surfaced about his admission to Policlinico Tor Vergata, a public hospital in Italy, on Tuesday morning. Turns out, he was hospitalized for an operation related to heart issues, and his meeting had long been scheduled.

Mr. Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely,” his representative said in response to reports about the director’s hospitalization, adding “all is well.”

Initially, local media reports claimed that the mastermind experienced a mild cardiac arrhythmia before the operation, and that the doctors had placed him under observation, per The Guardian. However, his representative specifically disputed these reports as “not true,” saying,

There was not an emergency. He went to the hospital in a car.

Notably enough, just a few days before these reports,...

A representative for the Godfather film-maker denied earlier reports that the director had experienced a mild cardiac arrhythmia

Francis Ford Coppola, the veteran American Italian film-maker behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, underwent a non-emergency medical procedure in Rome, according to his representative, who disputed earlier reports that he had suffered a mild cardiac arrhythmia.

“Mr Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely,” the representative said in response to Italian media reports that the director was hospitalised, adding “all is well.”...

Francis Ford Coppola was hospitalized in Rome for mild heart arrhythmia shortly after the conclusion of his U.S. tour for his film “Megalopolis,” local Italian media reported Tuesday.

The legendary director and six-time Oscar winner attended a scheduled visit with his heart doctor of more than 30 years while in Rome. Before the procedure, doctors reportedly noticed a the arrhythmia, leading them to keep Coppola for observation, Ansa reported, according to Reuters.

Last Friday, Coppola attended the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco for a screening and discussion about “Megalopolis.” The film was a decades-long passion project for the acclaimed director of “The Godfather” and “Apocalypse Now,” an ambitious feature that relied on Coppola’s self-financing.

Coppola toured with the film, which released in Sept. 2024, in six U.S. cities from late July to early August. Stops included Chicago, Denver and Dallas, as well as screenings in New York and New Jersey.

Francis Ford Coppola is reportedly resting in the hospital after a medical procedure!

The 86-year-old writer and director of classic films like The Godfather was reported to have been hospitalized in Italy on Tuesday (August 5). Now, a source close to the director is sharing an update on his health.

The source told People that the famed filmmaker is “well” and that the hospitalization came after a scheduled medical procedure.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Mr. Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr. Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely,” a source close to the director told People. “All is well and he appreciates everyone’s concern.”

It’s being reported that the procedure was heart surgery and that he was experiencing a “mild cardiac arrhythmia” prior to the procedure.

Francis has been busy this summer promoting his 2024 film Megalopolis, starring Adam Driver.

Director Francis Ford Coppola was reported by many news outlets to have been “rushed to hospital” shortly after making an appearance at a screening of his much-derided movie, Megalopolis. However, despite the urgency and sensational tone of many headlines, Coppola was due to go into hospital in Calabria, Italy, for a “long-planned” heart procedure.

There was a small deviation from the plan when Coppola reportedly suffered atrial fibrillation, where the upper chamber of the heart beats irregularly and rapidly, just before he was due to enter the operation theater. However, a source speaking to Rolling Stone soothed fears for the director’s health, saying in a statement:

“Mr. Coppola went in for a scheduled update procedure with acclaimed Dr. Andrea Natale, his doctor of over 30 years, and is resting nicely. All is well and he appreciates everyone’s concern.”

As well as presenting the screening of Megalopolis, Coppola was also...

There are certain movies that over the years have become film industry shorthand for box office fiascos: "Heaven's Gate," "Ishtar," "Waterworld," "Cutthroat Island," and so forth. But in truth, I have no idea why "Waterworld" keeps getting name-checked as a massive bomb, seeing as it eventually broke even and inspired a massively popular stunt show at Universal Studios Hollywood. Also irksome: The worst of these movies, "Cutthroat Island," is at least packed with jaw-droppingly elaborate spectacle, while "Heaven's Gate" and "Ishtar" are genuinely great movies from two of the most talented directors of their era (Michael Cimino and Elaine May).

I've long held that a film's box office is of little concern to the general public. Once upon a time, if you were interested in the movie business, you had to shell out for a pricey subscription to Variety or The Hollywood Reporter. Then "Entertainment Tonight" debuted in 1981, and suddenly...

Award-winning director Francis Ford Coppola “is fine” after he was taken to a hospital in Calabria, Italy, on Tuesday morning ahead of a previously planned procedure.

“Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30 year old afib procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor – Dr. Andrea Natale!” wrote the filmmaker. “I am well!”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Francis Ford Coppola (@francisfordcoppola)

According to the Italian news outlet Repubblica.it (via Reuters), Coppola suffered atrial fibrillation,...

Francis Ford Coppola has been hospitalized in Rome.

The legendary auteur went in for a scheduled procedure with Dr. Andrea Natale, a renowned heart doctor who has treated Coppola for more than 30 years. He is said to be resting nicely now, according to a well-placed source. The Hollywood Reporter reached out to the filmmaker’s rep for additional comment.

Amid the flurry of reports about his health, Coppola took to Instagram on Tuesday evening to offer an update and confirm the procedure with Natale. “Da Dada (what my kids call me) is fine, taking an opportunity while in Rome to do the update of my 30-year-old afib procedure with its inventor, a great Italian doctor — Dr. Andrea Natale!” posted Coppola to his nearly 500,000 followers. “I am well!”

According to the American Heart Association, an “afib” procedure refers to atrial fibrillation, a treatment to help reset the heart’s rhythm using...

Harrison Ford Was Nearly Passed Over for Indiana Jones—Here’s How He Landed the Role (Photo Credit – Netflix)

Indiana Jones is the one who really changed everything for Harrison Ford. Most people point to Star Wars when they talk about his rise as he was the swaggering Han Solo after all, the one who made laser guns and sarcasm look easy. However, four years after stepping into the Millennium Falcon, Ford picked up a fedora and a whip and that is when things truly shifted.

Harrison Ford in Raiders Of The Lost Ark pic.twitter.com/RJmXWxYWus

— Cinema Connoisseur (@MovieEndorser) October 8, 2024

Harrison Ford Chose Raiders Over Star Wars as His Career Turning Point

Ford, before Raiders, had popped up in smaller roles for Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas, basically background noise in films like The Conversation and American Graffiti. Then Lucas handed him a script and nudged him...

The new trailer for a raw documentary about Francis Ford Coppola's self-financed passion project, Megalopolis, reveals the epic production behind the 2024 flop. The five-time Oscar winner spent $120 million to fund the movie that took him over 40 years to make. With an idea first conceived in 1977, the Godfather filmmaker began writing the script in 1983, but it wasn't until last year that the movie finally made it into the theaters.

Megalopolis' star-studded cast features Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Giancarlo Esposito, Laurence Fishburne, and many others. However, despite the star power and Coppola's reputation, the movie faced a series of challenges in marketing and only grossed around $14 million against a massive budget.

Now, Utopia has released a new trailer for Mike Figgis' documentary, titled Megadoc, teasing a never-before-seen look at Coppola's journey in shaping the world of Megalopolis. From unfiltered interviews to a close-up view of Coppola's process, the documentary...

For the first time since 2011, we face a six-month gap in the release schedule for cape-wearing heroes. But what caused the slowdown, and is it a victory for ‘real’ cinema?

Fed up with all those superhero movies cluttering up the multiplexes and forcing your delicate black-and-white Lithuanian goat-herding tragedy on to a single screen at 10am on a Tuesday? Angry, like Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, that a $300m CGI raccoon gets more screen time than the slow and haunting meditation on existential despair your favourite auteur spent a decade working on?

For you, then, the darkest days of comic book movie hegemony may be over. A quick peek at the theatrical release calendar suggests that there is not a single new major-studio superhero flick due to hit multiplexes in the next six months. That’s right, a full, blissful half a year – which hasn’t happened since May 2011. For years,...

"The magic and making of Francis Ford Coppola's epic Megalopolis." Utopia has revealed the first look teaser trailer for a new making of documentary film titled Megadoc, from director Mike Figgis. This mega documentary is trying to be the Hearts of Darkness (which was a look at Coppola's troubled Apocalypse Now set) for Megalopolis, which opened in theaters last year. The only problem is that Megalopolis not only flopped big time, but it's just not a good movie by any measure, and Coppola needs to accept this. I get that he spent tons of money on it, and he's trying to be bold and provocative again, but it's a complete mess and most people don't care about it (unlike with Apocalypse Now). This Megadoc features appearances by Francis Ford Coppola (but of course!), Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Nathalie Emmanuel, Dustin Hoffman, Giancarlo Esposito, Chloe Fineman, Shia Labeouf, Laurence Fishburne,...

When you’re a legendary filmmaker like Francis Ford Coppola, there are few things left to do in the industry after creating ground-breaking cinema, earning top-tier awards, and working alongside the biggest names in the business. However, what about returning to why you got involved in filmmaking? Imagine making a movie for fun! It’s a wild concept in today’s film market that thrives on competition, trend-chasing, and merchandising tie-ins. In Utopia‘s Megadoc teaser trailer, Francis Ford Coppola takes us into the heart of his self-financed flop Megalopolis, and the filmmaker is as unapologetic as ever about his choices. I love that for him.

Here’s the official synopsis for Megadoc:

“A raw, fly-on-the-wall documentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-long journey in creating his self-financed passion project, Megalopolis. The bold and unrelenting epic returns in Mike Figgis’ portrait of Coppola’s creative process – weaving together archival material,...

Harrison Ford, widely revered as a cinematic treasure, has enjoyed a career spanning over seven decades, earning recognition as one of the world's highest-grossing actors. His career began in earnest with modest appearances in George Lucas' American Graffiti (1973) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation (1974), hinting at his future promise.

Ford's breakthrough came with his iconic portrayal of Han Solo in Star Wars, a character he embodied across five installments over 40 years. His legacy was further solidified through his role as adventurer Indiana Jones, along with memorable turns as the brooding replicant-hunter Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, and Jack Ryan in political thrillers of the early 1990s.

These performances cemented Ford's image as a rugged, charismatic action star and one of Hollywood's most commercially reliable leading men from the late 1970s to the 2000s. Despite numerous accolades, including multiple Golden Globe and SAG nominations, Ford has only received a...

After receiving Academy Awards and becoming an icon of Hollywood, Francis Ford Coppola just wants to have “fun.” The auteur’s version of playing around? Directing a self-funded $120 million epic.

The making of Coppola’s controversial “Megalopolis” is captured in documentary “Megadoc” by filmmaker Mike Figgis (Figgis previously helmed the Oscar-nominated “Leaving Las Vegas” and is known for directing episodes of “The Sopranos” and “The Affair.”) “Megadoc” is billed as an “unfiltered” look into Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and his creative process as a whole. The official synopsis for “Megadoc” reads: “A raw, fly-on-the-wall documentary about Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-long journey in creating his self-financed passion project, ‘Megalopolis.’ The bold and unrelenting epic returns in Mike Figgis’ portrait of Coppola’s creative process – weaving together archival material, unfiltered cast interviews, and a close-up view of how the legendary filmmaker drew from Roman history, political allegory, and his own singular vision...

Two giants of cinema, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, share a bond forged in the fire of 1970s Hollywood. Recently, Pacino singled out one of De Niro’s performances as the greatest in film history—a bold claim from a man who’s seen it all. That role was Jake Lamotta in the 1980 masterpiece ‘Raging Bull’.

‘Raging Bull’ is a raw, unflinching look at the life of Lamotta, a middleweight boxing champion whose personal demons outpunched his ring opponents. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film dives into Lamotta’s rise, fall, and search for redemption, fueled by jealousy, violence, and guilt. De Niro’s transformation was staggering—he packed on 27 kilograms to show Lamotta’s later years, earning him an Oscar for Best Actor. Pacino called it ‘mind-blowing’, saying De Niro’s work as the troubled fighter set a bar no one’s touched.

Pacino and De Niro go way back,...

Spoiler Alert !!!This article contains spoilers about Dept Q season 1 Episode 6

Netflix‘s British crime thriller Dept Q hits the most confusing and frankly embarrassing plot hole in episode 6. Detective Carl (Matthew Goode) asked the other detectives to find out if Archie Allen had a daughter. It came despite claims that it was Allen’s daughter who reported the case.

This contradiction appears to be a continuity slip. If Allen is murdered, wouldn’t the police have contacted the daughter first about her own father’s murder? Although it was the daughter who contacted the police, it undermines the credibility of the investigation itself.

If Allen’s daughter didn’t exist, who placed the call that brought officers to the murder case? There was no basic background check on Allen in the immediate aftermath of his death. It was necessary, especially considering the violent and suspicious nature of the crime.

Harrison Ford doesn't have any plans to retire.The 83-year-old star believes actors are fortunate in that there's no strict time limit on their working life.Asked if he'll ever retire, Harrison told Variety: "No. That’s one of the things I thought was attractive about the job of an actor, was that they need old people, too, to play old people’s parts."Harrison has worked with some of the biggest names in the movie industry - including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola - during the course of his career. And the Hollywood icon feels fortunate to have worked through the 70s and 80s, too.He said: "You’re talking about a very exciting time in the movie business. In the late ‘70s and through the ‘80s, there was this group of young filmmakers, all of them wildly independent, both in spirit and in mind, who...

Quentin Tarantino called Shang-Chi his favorite comic book of all time. The filmmaker is known for his love of cinema, TV, and other pop culture media. He has been vocal about his love for everything pop culture and was even slated to direct a Star Trek movie, but it never came to fruition. Despite his disdain for the MCU, he said he grew up with comics.

Tarantino recounted his childhood practice of showing off his collection to other kids, exchanging comic books, and making new friends. He said (via Angel Fire),

I was really into comic books. And, hands down, my favorite comic book in the mid-70s when it came out was Shang-Chi, Master of Kung-Fu, which was sort of like the Kung-Fu comic book. It was really great…I collected comic books, and it was kind of cool because back then, if you lived in the suburbs...

Francis Ford Coppola has explained the impact Megalopolis is having on his next movie. Self-financed by the five-time Oscar winner, the 2024 sci-fi thriller is the director's passion project, retelling the Catilinarian conspiracy in an alternate New York and drawing parallels between the fall of the Roman Republic and the future of the United States.

The movie has a stellar cast, featuring Adam Driver as Cesar, a genius architect, Nathalie Emmanuel as Julia Cicero, Aubrey Plaza as Wow Platinum, and Giancarlo Esposito as Franklyn Cicero. But despite being fueled by star power, it struggled to find a distributor to cover the production costs and marketing. Marred by controversy, Megalopolis polarized critics and grossed only $14.3 million against a massive $120 million budget.

During an interview with Deadline, Coppola talked about how his last movie got him in a bit of trouble financially. The filmmaker revealed that he had already finished the script for...

Francis Ford Coppola explains why Megalopolis is not available on DVD. The Godfather director's 2024 sci-fi film was notoriously fraught with production issues, and then struggled to secure a distributor even after it had been filmed. Once the film did eventually come out, Megalopolis' reviews were not strong, with a 45% Tomatometer overall.

Megalopolis was also an incredible box office flop. The movie made just $14.3 million worldwide, losing exponentially more than it made after its estimated $120 million budget. It was considered one of the biggest flops of its release year.

Speaking with Deadline, Coppola now explains why Megalopolis was never released on DVD. Implying that he was behind the decision, the director said that he "wanted to keep the hope of a theater experience going." This gave Coppola the idea to, instead of throwing in the towel by making the movie available at home, tour with the movie.

The ticket sales for this tour,...

Two figures very close to Pedro Almodovar, his longtime producer Esther García and repeat star Marisa Paredes, will be honored by Spain’s most prestigious film festival, San Sebastián.

García will receive a Donostia Award for career achievement.

Paredes, who died in December, will feature on this year’s San Sebastian poster.

Working with Agustín Almódovar, García has produced all Almodovar’s films since 1986’s “Matador,” released a year after Pedro and brother Agustín founded El Deseo in Madrid to hone a production model which, often working on contained budgets, realized the potential of Almodovar’s talent, allowing him creative oversight over the whole of a film while relieving him of rushed production schedules and the need to abandon his more out-there innovation and humor in order to recoup on bigger budgeted productions.

At El Deseo, García has also produced third-party titles from Guillermo del Toro, Lucrecia Martel, Damián Szifron,...

Legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola explains exactly what he wants to accomplish with his Megalopolistour.

Speaking to Deadline, Coppola opened up about his decision to take Megalopolis on the road rather than make it available on DVD or any other form of home media. "I didn’t make the movie available anywhere where people can own it or have a DVD or all that because I wanted to keep the hope of a theater experience going," Coppola said. "So because of that, there are a lot of people who said to me, well, 'How come you can’t get it on all the normal ways?"

"I said, well, because I'm going to go and bring it in a public way at first to prime the pump," Coppola continued. "Where I'll talk about the movie at the end, or rather illustrate some of where the movie could take you if you...

Exclusive: Rosalind Eleazar (Slow Horses) has landed the lead role of Misty Green in Chris Rock’s first feature for A24, a currently untitled project that Rock is starring in and helming from his own script. Others newly aboard to star include Adam Driver (Megalopolis), Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), and Anna Kendrick (Another Simple Favor).

Currently in production in Los Angeles, the film follows Misty Green, a gifted actress with a derailed career until someone from her past offers her a chance at a comeback. Character details for Driver, Kaluuya, and Kendrick are under wraps.

Peter Rice, Rock and David Worthen Brooks are producing, with Nelson George, Shaum Sengupta and Miles Alva exec producing.

Best known for her role of Louisa Guy on Apple’s Emmy-winning series Slow Horses, led by Gary Oldman, Eleazar also recently starred in Netflix’s Harben Coben thriller Missing You. Other TV...

All images courtesy of Rialto Pictures / American Zoetrope

by Chad Kennerk

Named after Joseph Conrad’s novella Heart of Darkness, on which Apocalypse Now is loosely based, the 1991 documentary Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse chronicles the notoriously chaotic production behind director Francis Ford Coppola’s ambitious Vietnam War epic. With the monumental success of The Godfather films, hopes were high for Apocalypse Now, which was poised to be the acclaimed director’s magnum opus. Shot on location in the unforgiving jungles of the Philippines, Apocalypse was plagued with typhoons, ravaged sets, delays and emotional breakdowns, all of which seemed to mirror the madness of the on-screen voyage.

Set during the Vietnam War, Apocalypse Now is a surreal exploration of the moral and psychological disintegration caused by violence and imperialism. It follows Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) on a mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), a rogue military officer who...

Many films are considered some of the best of all time but one of them stands out: The Shawshank Redemption. The epic prison drama is based on Stephen King's novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, and is widely singled out as the best adaptation of his works.

The Shawshank Redemption premiered in 1994, with Frank Darabont writing and directing. The movie starred Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, and although it has received critical acclaim for its message of perseverance and hope, it flopped in theaters when it came out. It has since become one of the most beloved films, and fans will get a chance to watch The Shawshank Redemption again soon as it's heading to Peacock on Aug. 1.

The prison drama film based on King's 1982 novella follows banker Andy Dufresne (Robbins), who is sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Shawshank State Penitentiary for the murders of his wife and her lover,...