Apocalypse Now (Zoetrope 1979), "Semi-Final Shooting Draft" Dated June 29, 1976, by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppo...

Description

Apocalypse Now (Zoetrope 1979), "Semi-Final Shooting Draft" Dated June 29, 1976, by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola, with Coppola's Structural Revisions (ca. 1976). Apocalypse Now was the biggest gamble of Francis Ford Coppola's career. Reflecting later on the production, he stated: "My film is not a movie. My film is not about Vietnam. It is Vietnam. It was crazy. And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We were in the jungle. There were too many of us. We had access to too much money, too much equipment, and little by little, we went insane." The story of the film's turbulent production can be traced through these screenplay drafts offered in Fred Roos' collection, which document how the movie was first envisioned, how it evolved, and how real-world challenges during filming forced Coppola to rethink his approach entirely. Offered here is the first synthesized draft of the screenplay, studio bound and bradded in a blue cardstock folder with 2-brads. A typewritten label along the spine reads "APOCALYPSE NOW / Semi-Final Shooting Draft / Francis Coppola." The script consists of 135 pages (as paginated) and reflects Coppola's integration of his own ideas and structural changes into John Milius's original work. The title page of this draft lists both Coppola and Milius as authors and is dated June 29, 1976. In this draft, Kurtz is still referred to as Leighey. Colonel Kilgore now delivers the line "Charlie doesn't surf," which would later be shortened to "Charlie don't surf" in the final version. On page 41, the script references napalm and surfing, but Kilgore's iconic line "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" does not yet appear. The French Plantation sequence is retained in this version. Coppola filmed it during production, though it was not included in the theatrical release and only appeared decades later in Apocalypse Now Redux. On page 107, as Willard and his team approach the compound, a sign reads "OUR MOTTO: APOCALYPSE NOW," offering a glimpse into the origins of the title, though this was ultimately cut from the final film. Page 130 contains the first appearance of what would become Kurtz's final line, taken directly from Conrad's Heart of Darkness and here attributed to Leighey: "The horror. The horror." The final page (135) features the original ending, in which Willard visits Leighey's widow and tells her that her husband's final words were her name. This script captures a key transitional stage in the film's development, as Coppola layered his vision onto Milius's foundation. These revisions continued throughout production and beyond the film's release, as Coppola revisited and reworked the material in various director's cuts over the following decades. This script, along with lots 38416, 38418, 38420, and 38421, reveals the many changes and creative decisions that shaped the film before it reached its final, celebrated form. The script exhibits production wear, age, fading, and bumped corners. The typewritten label on the spine is torn at the center but remains legible and mostly intact. The poster is for reference only and is not included with this lot. Comes with a COA from Heritage Auctions. From the Estate of Fred Roos.

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