Legendary director Francis Ford Coppola has been rushed to hospital, according to reports from the Italian press.
It has been reported that the 86-year-old legendary filmmaker was hospitalised at the Tor Vergata Polyclinic in Rome on Tuesday morning.
The director was in the area attending the Magna Grecia Festival in Calabria, screening his newest film, Megalopolis.
Local reports from the Italian press, such as ANSA, suggest that Coppola has been in the region for some time scoping out locations for an upcoming project in Autumn.
Unconfirmed reports have suggested that the director was experiencing heart problems.
Italian outlet La Repubblica reported that the director was scheduled to undergo a long-planned surgery, but before entering the operating room, he was hospitalised with atrial fibrillation.
The NHS describes atrial fibrillation as a type of heart rhythm problem where your heartbeat is not steady.
The director is best known for his films, including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Peggy Sue Got Married, and Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Just a few days ago at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts, Coppola addressed the audience on stage after a screening of Megalopolis, which stars Adam Driver, Aubrey Plaza, and Giancarlo Esposito.
The $120million (£90m) epic, which the director financed himself, was a huge flop, grossing just $14m (£10.5m) at the box office, and panned by many critics.
Reflecting on his successes and failures throughout his career, the director spoke about his age and the fact that his wife, Eleanor Coppola, died aged 87 in April last year.
‘I lost my wife a year ago, around this time. But my attitude for death is that I always lived my life so that when I was at the moment approaching death, I wouldn’t say, “Oh, I wish I had done this and I wish I had done that.” Instead, I say to myself, “I got to do this.”
‘I got to see my daughter win an Oscar. I got to see my father win an Oscar. I’m going to be so busy saying all the things I got to do that when I die, I’m not going to notice it.’
He then added: ‘When I die, I’m not going to notice it. You know how your electric toothbrush just shuts off when you least expect it? That’s what death is like.’
Coppola has been open about his health in recent months and revealed at the end of last year that a childhood diagnosis of polio nearly left him wheelchair bound for life.
The director told Deadline: ‘I was looking around, and then when I tried to get out of bed, I fell on the floor and I realised I couldn’t walk. I couldn’t get up. And I stayed in that ward for about 10 days before, finally, my parents were able to take me home.’
Coppola’s parents were told he’d forever be in a wheelchair but his father, Carmine Coppola, refused to ‘trust’ what the doctor said and pushed for further treatment, which eventually gave his son full movement back.
Metro has reached out to Francis Ford Coppola’s representatives for comment.
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