Hollywood still expects a lot from Francis Ford Coppola, even with his three decades of directing experience. In fact, the venerable director says expectations for his films have never been higher.
"The movie business is risky these days. I still have to cement my right to make films, and I'm sure the same is true for Martin (Scorsese)," he said in a recent telephone interview.According to Coppola, all directors who aspire to be personal filmmakers in Hollywood today have to prove first that they can make a film on time and on-budget and then have it do good box office.
"After years of that, you may get a shot at making the ones you like," he said.
Fortunately for Coppola, his last two films proved to be smashes - "Bram Stoker's Dracula" (1992) earned more than $100 million in the United States alone, and "Jack" looks like it's going to be one of this summer's hits. Of course, it helps that he really wanted to make both movies.
"When you get the chance to work with people like Robin (Williams), you jump," Coppola said. "I liked the script when I first saw it, but when I got the chance to direct with Robin in it, I couldn't say no. I've been friends with him for years but never had a chance to work together. He's so funny and so brilliant."
"Jack" also allowed Coppola to relive part of his childhood. As a child growing up in the '40s, he suffered from polio, which at that time left many youths paralyzed.
Bedridden, the young Coppola could not go to school and was tutored instead. And because he wasn't up to physical play, he was shunned by many of the neighborhood kids. Both of those circumstances are replayed, in a way, in "Jack."
"When I got to those parts in the script, I knew I had to do this film. I knew I could do it sincerely, from the heart, because I lived through so much of this," he said.
Together with "Life With Zoe," the short he contributed to 1989's "New York Stories," and "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1986), "Jack" also displays a new side to Coppola's films: a more playful, comedic tone.
"This is the kind of movie I've been looking to do for a while," Coppola said. "My granddaughter asked me to make a film that she would want to see, and she loved it."
In the '80s and '90s, Coppola has taken two hiatuses from filmmaking - two years between "The Godfather, Part III" and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" and four years between that film and "Jack." In that time, he has become better acquainted with his family and dealt with the death of a son, Gia, who perished in a boating accident.
"It's been a time to rest and a time to take care of some personal affairs. I've been making movies for a very long time, and I missed out on a lot," he said.
But Coppola said he returned to making movies because he enjoys the challenge. There are still a lot of films he would like to make and a lot of writers and actors he would like to work with.
"Mel Gibson. I would love to do a film with him," he said. "But it's just a matter of finding the right project."
He would also like to direct some straight-out comedies.
"(`Jack' and `Peggy Sue Got Married') are more like poignant fairytales. I'm talking about a real comedy, like the old screwball ones," Coppola said. "I want to do something that's unexpected from me."
But first, the director has "The Rainmaker," yet another John Grisham film project, on the docket.
"It's not exactly a thriller. It's partly that, but it's also a social tale - about some of modern society's problems," he said. "That's what has gotten me hooked on it. Plus, it sounds like it could be a big hit. All the Grisham adaptations are."
Then and finally then, Coppola will finally get the chance to direct some of his films - ones he will both write and direct.
"In another two years or so. Then they'll be all mine. And the audience will get to share them," he said.