The Cotton Club: Encore

In the 1920s, the "Cotton Club" in Harlem was one of the most sought-after jazz clubs in New York. Not only did it attract stars, but also the underground scene, and in a time marked by Prohibition and the Great Depression, the scandalous club stirred up public sentiment. After musician Dixie Dwyer (Richard Gere) saves the life of gangster boss Dutch Schultz (James Remar), Dixie is drawn into the gangster world and becomes Schultz’s henchman. He is assigned as the bodyguard for Schultz's girlfriend, Vera Cicero (Diane Lane), but soon falls in love with her himself. As if that didn’t create enough complications, tensions in the criminal scene begin to rise, as not everyone is pleased with Schultz's growing power, which he strengthens through his alliance with Lucky Luciano (Joe Dallesandro) and with the help of Dixie's brother, Vincent (Nicolas Cage).

THE COTTON CLUB hit theaters in 1984, screening on over 800 screens in the United States and Canada during its opening weekend. However, like his previous film, ONE FROM THE HEART, it was not a commercial success. A 139-minute version, titled "The Cotton Club: Encore," premiered on September 1, 2017, at the Telluride Film Festival. Coppola invested $500,000 of his own money for this encore version, returning to his original structure and adding 25 minutes of footage in this director’s cut.