THE Godfather trilogy director Francis Ford Coppola has broken his silence after he was reportedly rushed to hospital in Italy.
The legendary American filmmaker, 86, shared a health update with fans following his shocking hospitalisation in Rome on Tuesday.
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Coppola was reportedly admitted to public hospital Policlinico Tor Vergata after a screening of his film Megalopolis in Calabria.
But the Hollywood giant has now taken to social media to reassure fans of his condition.
On Tuesday night, he said on Instagram that he had visited hospital for a scheduled procedure with Dr. Andrea Natale – a renowned heart specialist who has treated him for over three decades.
He also posted a photo of himself smiling and looking relaxed, along with text that read: “I am well.
“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!”
Reports suggested that the renowned director was admitted to hospital for a possible heart procedure tied to a mild cardiac arrhythmia.
This would line up with Coppola‘s mention of updating his long-standing AFib treatment.
But this speculation has not been officially confirmed.
Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, and Giancarlo Esposito star in the Coppola’s latest, decades-in-the-making film, which has stirred considerable controversy.
He financed the $120million movie himself and premiered it at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
The passion project has proven something of a flop, broadly disappointing critics and audiences, and is the subject of an upcoming documentary called Megadoc.
Coppola has spent considerable time in Italy this year, partly to scout locations for another new film he planned to shoot in the autumn.
The director is considered one of the greatest filmmakers ever and has collected five Oscars in his career.
Among his numerous successes in the film business, Coppola directed iconic films including The Conversation, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and its acclaimed sequel The Godfather Part II.
Coppola’s wife, Eleanor, died last spring.
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Born in Detroit, Michigan, to a father who was a flautist in the local orchestra, he is a second generation Italian immigrant.
He spent most of his childhood in Queens, New York.
His first success was with the 1968 film Finian’s Rainbow, starring Petula Clark and Fred Astaire.
But his breakthrough was with The Godfather in 1972, starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan and Robert Duvall.
The film won three Oscars – including Best Picture – and was a box-office phenomenon, grossing $291million worldwide making it the highest grossing movie ever made at that point.
Further cementing his legacy, Coppola followed that triumph up with a 1974 sequel The Godfather Part II which, despite only grossing $98m, was lauded by movie critics.
With some experts even calling the four-hour opus superior to the original, it won an astonishing six Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director.
Coppola’s other monumental achievement is Vietnam war epic Apocalypse Now which cost a huge $31.5m to make in 1979.
By comparison, Star Wars was made for just $11m two years earlier.
Starring Brando and Martin Sheen, the film was thankfully a financial success grossing $150m worldwide. It was awarded the prestigious Palme d’Or at the ’79 Cannes Film Festival.
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