Director Credits Coppola's Vietnam Epic for Career Inspiration
Rising filmmaker Nia DaCosta reveals how Francis Ford Coppola's chaotic 1979 masterpiece shaped her directorial ambitions, despite her latest zombie sequel struggling at theaters.
Nia DaCosta's latest zombie thriller 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple deserved better than its disappointing box office run. Critics praised the film. Audiences connected with its fresh take on the franchise. Yet ticket sales fell short of studio expectations.
The timing might explain everything. Danny Boyle's franchise entry hit theaters just last year. The confusing movie titles probably left viewers thinking they'd already watched DaCosta's version. Box office numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the whole story either.
Star Power Wasn't Enough
DaCosta assembled serious talent for this project. Alex Garland penned the screenplay. Jack O'Connell and Ralph Fiennes delivered powerhouse performances. The director herself brings impressive credentials from Jordan Peele's Candyman reboot and the award-nominated drama Hedda, which earned Tessa Thompson a Golden Globe nod in 2025.
Her range spans multiple genres. The big-budget superhero spectacle The Marvels proved she could handle massive productions. Now she's one of Hollywood's most sought-after filmmakers, drawing inspiration from cinema's most ambitious projects.
Vietnam War Epic Changed Everything
DaCosta traces her directorial dreams back to high school English class. Reading Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness led her to Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now. "The sheer fucking audacity of this movie and the people who made it make it one of my all-time favourites and biggest inspiration for becoming a director," she told Ioncinema.
Coppola's production became legendary for all the wrong reasons. The budget exploded. Martin Sheen suffered a heart attack during filming. Harvey Keitel walked off set mid-production. Typhoons destroyed expensive sets in the Philippines.
The chaos reached absurd levels. Local suppliers brought real human corpses instead of prop bodies for battle scenes. Police questioned the crew. Authorities discovered the supplier was robbing graves and confiscated the remains.
From Disaster to Masterpiece
Coppola begged George Lucas for financial help, desperate as Star Wars profits soared. The film arrived two years behind schedule. Against all odds, it earned five times its budget and scored eight Oscar nominations, winning two including Best Cinematography.
The director later released a 202-minute redux version in 2001, cementing the film's reputation as a flawed masterpiece.
DaCosta continues writing most of her projects. Her next venture is Southern Bastards, a TV series about a war veteran searching for her father in Alabama's criminal underworld. The zombie franchise's future depends on how 28 Years Later performs in international markets and streaming. Alex Garland would write a third installment, with Danny Boyle likely returning to direct. Cillian Murphy might reprise his Jim character from 2002's 28 Days Later, alongside Brendan Gleeson.