Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were in fine spirits Wednesday night as adoring fans greeted them at the premiere of their movie “Righteous Kill.”
But then we had to mention Francis Ford Coppola.
You may remember that, last fall, Coppola suggested the two actors he’d put in “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” had squandered their talent.
“I met both Pacino and De Niro when they were really on the come,” Coppola told GQ. “They were young and insecure. Now Pacino is very rich, maybe because he never spends any money; he just puts it in his mattress … I don’t feel that kind of passion to do a role and be great coming from those guys.”
Considering that “Righteous Kill” is the first movie where they share substantial screen time together, we figured the two tough guys might want to fire back at the director. We figured wrong.
“I’d really rather not talk about it,” Pacino said, sinking into his seat at the Ziegfeld. “I’d really rather not talk about anything.”
De Niro, ever loquacious, suggested he had no quarrel with the man who helped produce his movie “The Good Shepherd.” “It’s okay, it’s okay,” he said.
But others argued against the claim that the New York icons had lost their way.
Former mayor Rudy Giuliani said, “They’re two of my favorites. And here they’re playing New York City detectives! What could be better?”
“Righteous Kill” director Jon Avnet said it was “humbling” to work with them: “They’d defied my expectations.”
“Inside the Actors Studio” host James Lipton insisted, “These guys are two of the finest actors of their generation. They don’t write the movies they appear in. They don’t have infinite choices. … I think Coppola is being disingenuous. I don’t disrespect anybody for working for living.”
Meanwhile, sources deny De Niro quit “Edge of Darkness” last week (after one day) because of a feud with co-star Mel Gibson.
“Bob didn’t think [director Martin Campbell] was shooting the right way,” said an insider. Campbell is “doing two takes and then moving on like it was a TV shoot.”
Campbell’s agent didn’t return a call. De Niro’s rep blamed his departure on “creative differences.”
(source)
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