N.Y. FESTIVAL WILL LAUNCH COPPOLA MOVIE ‘PEGGY SUE’

Francis Coppola’s latest film, “Peggy Sue Got Married,” will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival, it was announced here Tuesday.

Coppolo’s film, described as a romantic comedy starring Kathleen Turner and Nicolas Cage, is scheduled as the festival’s closing-night presentation, Oct. 5. The film is due to be released nationally by Tri-Star Pictures the following week.

The 24th annual film festival is scheduled to open at Lincoln Center Sept. 19, with Jim Jarmusch’s new film “Down by Law,” as previously announced.

The international festival is dominated this year by films from Western European countries, with eight entries from France, including Bertrand Tavernier’s latest film, “ ‘Round Midnight.” Britain will be represented by Alex Cox’s “Sid and Nancy,” about the life and death of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. And West Germany will have “Marlene,” Maximilian Schell’s film portrait of actress Marlene Dietrich.

The only other American feature film scheduled for this year’s festival is Warner Bros.’ “True Story,” which marks the directorial debut of David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Byrne also co-wrote the musical film with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley.

Noticeably missing from this year’s schedule is the rich assortment of American documentary films for which the festival has been noted in recent years. The three documentaries included this year are: “Directed by William Wyler,” a profile of the late director by Aviva Slesin; “International Sweethearts of Rhythm,” a film about a 1940s women’s band by Greta Schiller and Andrea Weiss; and “Isaac in America,” a portrait of author Isaac Bashevis Singer by Amram Nowack.