The making of Francis Ford Coppola’s legendary war epic “Apocalypse Now” has generated its own mythology by now — a feverish, nearly unmanageable production that seemed to mirror the madness of the film itself. But “Hearts Of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” remains the clearest, most intimate record of that unraveling, largely because it came through his wife, Eleanor Coppola’s eyes. Now that the landmark documentary is getting a new spotlight, Lionsgate Limited is set to release “Hearts Of Darkness: The Art Of Eleanor Coppola” as a 4K Collector’s Edition on May 19, 2026, exclusively through the label.
READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of Francis Ford Coppola
The set includes the 1991 documentary in 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and digital formats, along with a special-edition art book. The film chronicles the chaos that plagued Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 Vietnam epic, from brutal weather and health crises to political instability, while Eleanor Coppola’s behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and secretly taped conversations capture a filmmaker pushed to the brink. Lionsgate’s description leans into that dual legacy — not just as a chronicle of a famously cursed production, but as a work shaped by Eleanor Coppola’s own artistic perspective.
The collector’s edition also comes loaded with extras. Disc One and Disc Two both include “The Making of Hearts of Darkness,” an Eleanor & Francis Coppola audio commentary, and the new Lionsgate Limited featurette “Eleanor Coppola: Art Is All Around Us.” A third Blu-ray is devoted entirely to supplemental material, including documentaries like “Making of Marie Antoinette,” “Making of The Virgin Suicides,” “Francis Ford Coppola Directs The Rainmaker,” and several Eleanor Coppola shorts, plus the original 1979 “Apocalypse Now” trailer.
The documentary is directed by Eleanor Coppola, Fax Bahr, and George Hickenlooper, and features Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, George Lucas, and the Coppolas themselves.
For a film that has long stood as both a making-of document and a portrait of artistic collapse, the new edition seems to be positioning “Hearts Of Darkness” not simply as bonus material orbiting “Apocalypse Now,” but as a major work in its own right. The 4K Collector’s Edition arrives May 19 exclusively at Lionsgate Limited.
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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