Francis Ford Coppola heaps praise on Todd Phillips

Francis Ford Coppola has heaped praise on fellow director Todd Phillips.

The 'Megalopolis' helmsman has offered support to the 53-year-old filmmaker after his latest work, 'Joker: Folie a Deux', has opened behind expectations and became the first Hollywood comic book movie to receive just a D in Cinemascore, and he praised the 'Hangover' director for always surprising audiences.

Sharing a poster for 'Joker: Folie a Deux' - which stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga and features music prominently - Francis wrote on Instagram: "@ToddPhillips films always amaze me and I enjoy them thoroughly. Ever since the wonderful “The Hangover” he’s always one step ahead of the audience never doing what they expect. Congratulations to Joker: Folie à Deux!"

The 85-year-old director - whose own latest movie, 'Megalopolis', has also performed poorly at the box office and with critics - also thanked cinematographer Lawrence Sher for crediting his own 1981 musical 'One From the Heart' as being an inspiration for the 'Joker' sequel.

He added: "I am also honored that the films DP, Lawrence Sher, mentioned that the film is visually inspired by “One From the Heart” (sic)"

The veteran filmmaker recently explained he deliberately set out to defy convention with 'Megalopolis' so wasn't too concerned with the reaction from critics.

Speaking to Empire magazine, he said: "The movie business tries to encourage everyone to think there's only one way a movie can be. It has to have a protagonist, then, in the first few minutes, it has to have an antagonist.

"They are prescribing a formula that they'll be able to sell over and over again. So when a movie comes along that doesn't fit that formula and they don't think it's a new formula that can be repeated, they don't want to do it because they feel there's too much risk.

"'Apocalypse Now' is a perfect example. When it came out, people said, 'What the hell is this?' But they never stopped going to see it. With 'Megalopolis' you can't put a label on it. And that's great. That's the kind of film I like."