The Godfather was released on March 15, 1972. The feature-length film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and was based on Mario Puzo's novel of the same name. The plot begins with Don Vito Corleone declining an offer to join in the narcotics business with notorious drug lord Virgil Sollozzo, which leads to an assassination attempt. Vito's oldest son Sonny subsequently takes over the family business and he conspires with Michael to strike back for the assassination attempt by having him kill Sollozzo and a corrupt police captain, forcing Michael to go to Sicily in hiding. While in Sicily, Michael travels around the country and meets a woman he marries but who is killed in a car bombing. Michael returns to America after the news of his brother Sonny's murder and marries his former girlfriend Kay. Vito then turns over the reins of the family to Michael. Michael plans to move the family business to Las Vegas; but before the move, his father dies, and he plots the killing of the heads of the five families on the day of his nephew's baptism. Other subplots include Vito's daughter's abusive marriage, Johnny Fontane's success in Hollywood and Vito's second son Fredo's role in the family business in Las Vegas.
The Godfather Part II was released on December 20, 1974. The feature-length film was again directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Both films, The Godfather I and The Godfather II are based on a single novel written by Mario Puzo, The Godfather. The film is in part both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, presenting two parallel dramas. The main storyline, following the first film's events, centers on Michael Corleone, the new Don of the Corleone crime family, trying to hold his business ventures together from 1958 to 1959; the other is a series of flashbacks following his father, Vito Corleone, from his childhood in Sicily in 1901 to his founding of the Corleone family in New York City.
The Godfather Part III was released on December 25, 1990. Francis Ford Coppola returned as director for the feature-length film, while also writing the screenplay with the help of the author Mario Puzo. In his audio commentary for Part II, Coppola stated it was his belief in the first two films having told the complete Corleone saga with nothing more to add that led him to decline multiple requests from Paramount to make a third installment for over a decade, until severe financial difficulties caused by the critical and commercial failure of One from the Heart (1982) compelled him to accept the long-standing offer.[2]
The Godfather Part III completes the story of Michael Corleone, who is now trying to legitimize his criminal empire, and shows the rise of Sonny Corleone's illegitimate son Vincent Corleone as Michael's successor. The film also portrays a fictionalized account of real-life events, including the death of Pope John Paul I and the Papal banking scandal of 1981 & '82, linking them together and with the affairs of Michael Corleone. Coppola has stated he intended for Part III to be an epilogue to the first two films.[3] The film co-stars Sofia Coppola as Mary Corleone, whose performance was received negatively by critics. Leonard Maltin, said of the film that the casting of Sofia Coppola was an "almost-fatal flaw".[4]
Recut version
On December 4, 2020, a recut version of the film titled The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone was released in a limited number of theatres as well as being released on Blu-ray and streaming platforms.[5][6] Coppola said the film is the version he and Puzo had originally envisioned, and it "vindicates" its status among the trilogy and his daughter Sofia's performance.[7]
Cancelled fourth film
Coppola stated that he and Puzo had discussed the potential of a fourth installment. The fourth film was intended to be a prequel and a sequel told in a similar narrative to Part II.[8] They had discussed a potential script seeing Vito Corleone and Sonny gaining the families' political power and racketeering empire during the 1930s; and with Vincent Corleone in the 1980s, haunted by Mary's death, running the family business through a ten-year destructive war and eventually losing the families' business interests, respect and power, seeing one final scene with Michael Corleone before his death, completing the 100-year story of the Corleone family's rise and fall.[9]
In June 1999, The Hollywood Reporter had reported that a fourth film was in the works with García in the lead role. García has since claimed the film's script was nearly produced,[9] but following Puzo's death on July 2, Coppola decided to retire the film series indefinitely.[14] Puzo's contribution to the potential sequel dealt with the Corleone family in the early 1930s, and was eventually expanded into a novel by Ed Falco and released in 2012 as The Family Corleone.[15] The estate of Puzo had sought to keep Paramount Pictures from producing the film based on The Family Corleone.[16] Now resolved, Paramount has gained the rights to make more Godfather films.[17]
Cast
List indicator(s)
This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in the film series.
An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
A indicates an appearance through archival footage or audio.
E indicates an appearance not included in the theatrical cut.
The three films together were nominated for a total of 28 Academy Awards, of which they won nine. The Godfather is the first trilogy to have had all three of its films nominated for Best Picture (The Lord of the Rings is the only other series to achieve this); it is the only film series with two Best Picture winners, with The Godfather and The Godfather Part II winning the award in their respective years. The Godfather Part II is the first sequel film to win Best Picture (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is the only other film to achieve this). For the Best Supporting Actor award, both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II had three actors nominated for the award, which is a rare feat. The Godfather Part II won the most Academy Awards with six to its credit. The Godfather Part III was nominated for seven Oscars, but won none.
The Godfather — Nominations: 10, Wins: 3
The Godfather Part II — Nominations: 11, Wins: 6
The Godfather Part III — Nominations: 7, Wins: 0
The Godfather film series at the Academy Awards[48][49][50]
^Received two nominations in this category, winning one.
Home media and television
Compilations were created by Coppola and editors Barry Malkin and Walter Murch, with two released to home media:
The Godfather Saga (1977) – 434-minute television miniseries based on the first two films in chronological order and incorporating additional footage that was not included in the theatrical releases (with violence and language toned down for a television audience).
The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980 (1992) – 583-minute uncensored version of The Godfather Saga released directly to video (VHS and LaserDisc formats) encompassing all three films and incorporating additional footage that the Saga and Epic releases had included.
Other box sets were released in DVD and Blu-ray formats:
The Godfather DVD Collection (2001) – Includes all three films, commentaries, a documentary entitled The Godfather Family: A Look Inside, additional scenes originally contained in The Godfather Saga, a Corleone family tree, and a Godfather timeline.
The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration (2008) – Includes all three films, commentaries, and a bonus features disc with new content and extras from Paramount's 2001 DVD release. Also included is an interview with David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, discussing the cultural significance of the films.
The Godfather Trilogy: Omerta Edition (2017) – A special 45th anniversary box set edition produced in the "limited" quantity of 45,000 copies, consisting of the Coppola Restoration versions of all three films on Blu-ray, a bonus feature Blu-ray disc, and various jacket-liner materials including quote cards, word-play magnets, and scene notes ("anatomy of a scene").
The Godfather Trilogy (2022) – A 50th anniversary Blu-ray box set consisting of The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, along with old and new bonus materials. The Ultra HD Blu-ray version includes remastered and restored versions of all three films in 4K resolution, plus all three cuts of the third film: the original theatrical cut (previously unreleased on home video), the 1991 director's cut, and the 2020 Coda cut.
Video games
A side-scrolling shooter, The Godfather (1991), was the first video game based on the series. The Godfather: The Game (2006) was based on the first film.[56][57] Duvall, Caan, and Brando supplied voiceovers and their likenesses,[58] but Pacino did not.[58] Francis Ford Coppola openly voiced his disapproval of the game.[59]The Godfather II (2009) was based on the second film. A mobile game, The Godfather: Family Dynasty (2017), was released for iOS and Android devices.
Notes
^ abSources disagree on both the amount of the original budget and the final budget of the first film. The final budget has been named at $6 million,[21][22][23] $6.5 million,[24][25] $7 million,[26] and $7.2 million.[27]
^ abcSources disagree on the amount grossed by the first film.
1974: Newsweek. Vol. 84. 1974. p. 74. The original Godfather has grossed a mind-boggling $285 million...
1991: Von Gunden, Kenneth (1991). Postmodern auteurs: Coppola, Lucas, De Palma, Spielberg, and Scorsese. McFarland & Company. p. 36. ISBN978-0-89950-618-0. Since The Godfather had earned over $85 million in U.S.-Canada rentals (the worldwide box-office gross was $285 million), a sequel, according to the usual formula, could be expected to earn approximately two-thirds of the original's box-office take (ultimately Godfather II had rentals of $30 million).
^Jones 2007, p. 19. sfn error: no target: CITEREFJones2007 (help)
^"Backstage Story of 'The Godfather'". Lodi News-Sentinel. United Press International. March 14, 1972. p. 9. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
