Director assures fans he is “fine” and “well”.
Francis Ford Coppola, the celebrated Italian-American director best known for The Godfather trilogy, was hospitalised in Rome on Tuesday for scheduled heart surgery.
Coppola, 86, was admitted to the Policlinico Tor Vergata hospital, news agency ANSA reported, sparking speculation about the health of the five-time Oscar winner.
“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 representative of the director said, stressing that the hospital visit “was not an emergency”.
Coppola’s representative also rubbished reports in the Italian media that the director had suffered atrial fibrillation, a type of irregular heartbeat, before entering the operating room.
“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,” Coppola posted on his Instagram page on Tuesday, assuring fans: “I am well”.
Coppola was in Italy to promote his latest movie, the $120-million self-funded sci-fi epic Megalopolis, at the Magna Graecia Film Festival in the southern city of Catanzaro last month.
The film, which has received mixed reviews and struggled at the box office, had its Italian premiere last October at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios where Coppola filmed scenes for The Godfather – Part III around 35 years ago.
The director, who in addition to The Godfather movies is known for blockbusters such as Apocalypse Now and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, told the Cinecittà audience: “I’m close to death, but I still want to make two films. One small and simple, just for fun, which I will shoot mostly in Italy, and one big”.
During his time in the Italian capital last autumn, Coppola received the Lupa Capitolina, Rome’s top honour.
Photo credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com.
