TL;DR
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Sofia Coppola has completed Making Marie Antoinette, a feature-length documentary assembled from footage her mother, Eleanor Coppola, recorded during the 2006 film’s production. Eleanor died in 2024 before the project was finished; Diane Lane reads from her journals, and the documentary is scheduled to open in theaters Oct. 23.
Sofia Coppola’s documentary about the making of her 2006 film Marie Antoinette is scheduled to open in theaters on October 23, bringing together nearly 80 hours of set footage recorded by her mother, filmmaker Eleanor Coppola. Sofia completed the feature after Eleanor died in 2024; actress Diane Lane reads from Eleanor’s journals in the film.
Eleanor filmed during the production, which included 20 days inside Versailles and a 57-day shoot overall. The French government opened the palace to filming for the first time, according to Harper’s Bazaar’s report. Eleanor’s camera follows the crowded production, including the work of costumers and makeup artists preparing extras, as well as Sofia directing and cast and crew working through long days.
The documentary, titled Making Marie Antoinette, took shape years later, when Sofia and Eleanor began assembling the material during the Covid lockdowns. They did not complete it together: Eleanor died in 2024, and Sofia finished the project afterward. Lane’s readings of Eleanor’s journals provide a voice-over thread for footage that includes the director’s work and her relationship with her mother.
Harper’s Bazaar describes the film as an affectionate record of both a major production and a mother observing her daughter at work. It also captures the filmmaking decisions behind Sofia’s approach to Marie Antoinette, including a disagreement with cinematographer Lance Acord over whether a scene should include Louis XVI’s point of view. Sofia argued that the story should remain centered on the queen.
A Family Record of a Major Production
The documentary adds a behind-the-scenes account to a film whose reception changed substantially after its 2006 premiere. Marie Antoinette drew boos at Cannes and criticism for its emphasis on the young queen’s experience rather than the political crisis preceding the French Revolution. The new film offers a view of how Sofia held to that perspective while directing a large, expensive production inside Versailles.
It also has a personal dimension: the footage was recorded by a mother watching her daughter work, and Sofia completed the project after Eleanor’s death. That history makes the documentary both a production record and a posthumous account of Eleanor’s interest in filmmaking and family life. It gives audiences a chance to see material captured during the making of a movie that has since been reassessed, while preserving the perspective of someone who was present on set.
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From Cannes Dispute to Set Diary
Sofia Coppola directed Marie Antoinette after The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003). The historical drama, starring Kirsten Dunst, cost $40 million, according to Harper’s Bazaar, and was made on a substantially larger scale than Coppola’s first two films combined. Costume designer Milena Canonero worked with six assistants on the period clothing, while the production staged scenes with hundreds of extras at Versailles.
Coppola’s film drew on British author Antonia Fraser’s biography and took a sympathetic approach to Marie Antoinette, framing her as a young woman thrust into public scrutiny. The film’s focus on the queen’s emotional experience, rather than the broader political events around her, shaped both its initial controversy and its later reassessment. Eleanor’s camera recorded the work behind that choice, including Sofia’s insistence that the film stay with its central character.
Eleanor had previously documented the making of her husband Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now in Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse (1991). She later made her narrative directorial debut with Paris Can Wait in 2016, shortly after turning 80. The new documentary returns to her longstanding interest in filming the process of making movies, this time through footage of her daughter’s production.
““I have that relationship that Marie Antoinette did have, starting as a young girl and coming to these movie sets and having all these expectations, all these judgments about you.””
— Kirsten Dunst, in an interview recorded by Eleanor and described by Harper’s Bazaar
Release Details Still to Come
The source report gives October 23 as the planned theatrical opening but does not specify the release year, theaters, or whether the documentary will later be available on a streaming service. It also does not provide further details about the film’s length, distribution arrangements, or the full scope of Eleanor’s recorded material beyond the nearly 80 hours of footage.
The report describes a planned theatrical release; it does not establish how widely the film will be shown. Any later release plans or additional public information remain unconfirmed in the material available here.
The Documentary’s Theatrical Opening
The next stated milestone is the documentary’s theatrical opening on October 23. Further information about participating cinemas, the release’s geographic reach, and any later home or streaming availability has not been provided in the source report.
For audiences, the release will bring Eleanor Coppola’s previously unseen production footage into a feature-length film completed by Sofia. The documentary’s public reception may also offer a fresh point of entry into discussions of Marie Antoinette and the directing choices that shaped it, though the source does not report on early reviews or box-office expectations.
Key Questions
What is Making Marie Antoinette?
It is a feature-length documentary assembled by Sofia Coppola from footage her mother, Eleanor Coppola, recorded while Sofia was making the 2006 film Marie Antoinette.
When is the documentary scheduled to open?
The source report lists a theatrical opening on October 23. It does not specify the year or provide cinema listings.
Who reads Eleanor Coppola’s journals in the film?
Diane Lane reads from Eleanor’s journals, providing voice-over narration for the documentary.
Why did Sofia Coppola complete the documentary alone?
Sofia and Eleanor began assembling the footage during the Covid lockdowns, but Eleanor died in 2024 before the project was complete. Sofia finished the film afterward.
What does the documentary show about the original film?
It includes set footage from the production at Versailles and records Sofia directing, the work of cast and crew, and decisions about keeping the story centered on Marie Antoinette’s point of view.
Source: rss
