Legends Podcast

Director Francis Ford Coppola is widely regarded as one of the greatest directors of the twentieth century, the visionary force behind The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, and dozens of other films. For decades, Coppola had sought to make a film drawing parallels between the fall of the Roman Republic and the future of the United States by retelling the Catilinarian conspiracy in modern New York, but was unable to secure studio funding. After three decades of fits and starts, Coppola ultimately spent $120 million of his own money to make the film, drawn largely from the fortune he made in the winemaking business. Released in fall of 2024, the ensemble cast features Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight, and Laurence Fishburne. After a troubled production and a rocky reception at Cannes, where the film premiered, Coppola was forced to spend additional money to market the film, but the trailer was removed for using fabricated pull quotes. Ultimately, the film gross