Francis Ford Coppola raves about 'Joker' director

Francis Ford Coppola believes he and Todd Phillips have a common quality when it comes to filmmaking: defying conventions.

In a social media post, the Apocalypse Now director said the Joker helmer — like him — always surprises audiences.

"@ToddPhillips films always amaze me and I enjoy them thoroughly. Ever since the wonderful “The Hangover,” he’s always one step ahead of the audience, never doing what they expect. Congratulations to Joker: Folie à Deux!," he captioned.

As far as defying convention is concerned, Francis earlier said, "The movie business tries to encourage everyone to think there's only one way a movie can be. It has to have a protagonist, then, in the first few minutes, it has to have an antagonist."

"'Apocalypse Now' is a perfect example. When it came out, people said, 'What the hell is this?' But they never stopped going to see it," he told Empire Magazine. "With 'Megalopolis', you can't put a label on it. And that's great. That's the kind of film I like."