Francis Ford Coppola and Stephen Colbert Finally Sat Down to Talk About Megalopolis—Jabs and All

Francis Ford Coppola got what he asked for on Tuesday night when he made his first-ever appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

It’s a sit-down that was several weeks in the making—ever since Colbert used the lackluster box office performance of Coppola’s long-gestating Megalopolis as a punchline during his opening monologue on September 30th. After making the joke, however, the host directly addressed The Godfather filmmaker, saying he thought the film looked “amazing” then asking “Francis: Please come on my show!”

Coppola had some fun with the invitation, and responded via Instagram that he’d be happy to guest on The Late Show but only if Colbert watched the movie so that they could talk about it. On Tuesday night, that sit-down finally happened—and Coppola came prepared with a bottle of one of his very best wines to show that there were no hard feelings. They toasted “to Art” (Colbert) and “to the future” (Coppola).

Still, Colbert realized that the elephant in the room was a pretty large one, so he took a moment to address the origins of the interview before it really got going.

“I just want to take a moment to talk about how I got here to have the pleasure and the privilege of talking to you,” Colbert began, then shared the story of the joke he made—and Coppola’s immediate response. “I was thrilled,” said the host.

After acknowledging that “there are a lot of different strong opinions and different directions” on the movie, Colbert shared that he finally watched Megalopolis the night before. His verdict?

“I kind of think it’s above my likes or dislikes, because it is a film of such soaring ambition,” Colbert shared. “And what I found so beautiful and refreshing about it was that you don’t seem to give a damn about the conventions of the experience of going to see a movie. You even have a break in the middle of it where a live actor comes out and has a conversation with the main character.”

“It is a hopeful thing to see someone of your artistic talent trying something like this that I’ve never seen before,” Colbert continued.

Coppola seemed to appreciate the thoughtful comment. And explained how the film industry can be a lot like the fast food industry in that it’s homogenized.

“They basically want it to be like Coca-Cola. They want something that’s familiar to you,” Coppola explained. “Art is always changing; it’s always changing and developing from artist to artist, from the times and the period. So I wanted to make a movie that was the way I saw it now and not follow the rules, so to speak… There’s a line in the movie: ‘When you jump into the unknown, you prove you are free.’ Well, as an artist, I want to be free.”

It was a sentiment that drew applause from the audience, and another toast from Colbert: “To freedom.”