Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola finally and officially confirmed that the Godfather series will be released to DVD this Fall while at the Cannes Film Festival.

Calling his Godfather trilogy "the big ones," Coppola groused that Paramount Pictures has done a poor job archiving original Godfather materials, especially in comparison with his own company Zeotrope and its preservation of Apocalpyse Now footage. This means that the Godfather project has required a tremendous amount of work.

Coppola would not reveal the exact release date because he is waiting for Paramount to make the official announcement. But he enthused about the DVD explosion which has led to the preservation of some older films and the better presentation of newer ones with extra materials. "DVD is the friend of filmmakers," Coppola said.

The new three-hour, 23-minute version of Coppola's 1979 anti-war masterpiece Apocalypse Now also made its world premiere last night to mostly rave reactions.