Twenty years after the release of Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola returns to the making of her 2006 film through footage shot by her mother, filmmaker Eleanor Coppola. The new documentary, Making Marie Antoinette, uses material Eleanor recorded on set in 2005 while Sofia directed Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman at the Palace of Versailles. Eleanor captured approximately 80 hours during the production, documenting the scale of the shoot and her daughter’s experience as a young director.
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Sofia edited the previously unseen footage in 2026, fulfilling Eleanor’s wish that the recordings eventually become a film. Eleanor died in April 2024. The documentary examines the people and creative work behind Marie Antoinette, including costume designer Milena Canonero, whose designs became one of the production’s defining elements. It also records Sofia directing an ambitious project at a point when a female perspective of that scale remained unusual within the industry.
Eleanor had followed her daughter’s filmmaking from the beginning. Sofia recalls her mother bringing a camera to her first film and later arriving on the Marie Antoinette set with the same observational instinct. She filmed costumes, flowers, fabrics, recreated 18th-century food, extras and the activity surrounding the production. Sofia describes Eleanor slipping around the set and recording details that interested her, including moments her position as Sofia’s mother allowed her to witness.
During the pandemic, Sofia and Eleanor opened boxes of tapes at their home in Napa and began watching the material. The footage revealed parts of the production Sofia had never seen while directing, including the extensive wig preparation for extras and the large number of people involved. Watching herself also returned Sofia to a period when she still felt uncertain about asserting herself as a director.
Producer Youree Henley describes Eleanor’s footage as something that gradually develops beyond conventional behind-the-scenes documentation. Her camera records conversations between setups, waiting periods, hurried moments and small exchanges surrounding the work. Henley, who later collaborated with Sofia on several films, identifies Eleanor’s proximity to her daughter as central to what she managed to capture.
The documentary also incorporates Eleanor’s own written account of the production. Diane Lane, an Academy Award nominee, performs Eleanor’s voice and reads excerpts from her diaries, which describe her experiences on set and her relationship with Sofia.
Eleanor built a six-decade career in film and became widely known for her documentary work. Her 16mm footage and diary recordings from the production of Apocalypse Now formed the core of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, which earned her Emmy and Directors Guild of America awards. She later directed Paris Can Wait and Love Is Love Is Love.
Making Marie Antoinette will open in cinemas in the UK and Ireland on October 23, 2026, before streaming exclusively on MUBI from November 6, 2026. In the US and Canada, MUBI will also release a new 4K restoration of Marie Antoinette in theaters and on the platform from October 23.
