Francis Ford Coppola Set to Receive AFI Life Achievement Award on Heels of 'Megalopolis' Chris Gardner, 10/29/2024 Coppola set to receive the AFI Life Achievement Award on April 26, 2025, honoring his monumental impact on American cinema. Despite his film Megalopolis struggling at the box office, Coppola's legacy, including classics like The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, cements his status as a filmmaking icon. Francis Ford Coppola has a date with American Film Institute next year.
The filmmaker has been selected to receive the 50th installment of the organization's highest honor, the AFI Life Achievement Award, at a ceremony scheduled to take place at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on April 26, 2025. He will be 86 at the time. The tribute will air on TNT with encore presentations on Turner Classic Movies. All proceeds from the gala will support AFI's education and arts initiatives.
The AFI Life Achievement Award is presented to an honoree "whose talent has in a fundamental way advanced the film art, whose accomplishment has been acknowledged by scholars, critics, professional peers and the general public, and whose work has stood the test of time."
"Francis Ford Coppola is a peerless artist, one who has created seminal works in the canon of American film, and has also inspired generations of filmmakers who now embody his artistry and his independent spirit," offered AFI board of trustees chair Kathleen Kennedy.
News of the honor comes on the heels of Coppola's latest film, the polarizing Megalopolis, which struggled to find an audience upon its release and finished with a worldwide cume of $12.5 million on a budget of $120 million.
The award no doubt comes his way thanks to a long and impressive list of iconic films like The Godfather, The Godfather Part II and Apocalypse Now and for contributions to American cinema that extend beyond his own resume. The American Zoetrope founder has mentored fellow auteurs and inspired the careers of countless creatives including some members of his own family like Sofia, Gia and Roman Coppola, to name but a few. The six-time Oscar winner's resume also includes Patton, American Graffiti, The Conversation, The Outsiders, One From the Heart, Rumble Fish, Peggy Sue Got Married, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Jack, and The Rainmaker, among others.
The list of previous recipients reads like a who's who of Hollywood. Most recent honorees include Nicole Kidman, Julie Andrews, Denzel Washington, George Clooney and Diane Keaton.
