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Godfather Director Says There Could Be More Sequels

Godfather Director Says There Could Be More Sequels

Francis Ford Coppola said he doesn't own the franchise

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

There could be more Godfather movies, the trilogy's director has revealed.

Francis Ford Coppola was behind the iconic gangster films, which are still held up as the benchmark for the genre.

But with the last in the series having been released in 1990, it had long been thought that that was that.

However, when asked about the possibility for more of the Corleone story, the 81-year-old said it wasn't up to him.

He told The New York Times: "There may well be a Godfather IV and V and VI, I don't own The Godfather."

When pressed for more information, Paramount said if the story was there, then it could be done.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the studio said: "While there are no imminent plans for another film in the Godfather saga, given the enduring power of its legacy it remains a possibility if the right story emerges."

Francis Ford Coppola says there could be more Godfather movies.
PA

This isn't the first time a fourth or even a fifth instalment has been discussed.

According to reports, Coppola had planned another movie in 1999, however, when Mario Puzo died - the author who wrote the book the 1972 original was based on, as well as writing the three movies - he abandoned the idea.

The Godfather is widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time. It also has several of the best movie lines ever. Most of those are spoken by Don Vito Corleone, played by the late Marlon Brando, including, 'I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse', and 'Revenge is a dish best served cold'.

But as they say, you have to suffer for your art, and at a Q&A event back in 2017 with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, James Caan and Coppola, the cast revealed how difficult it was to make.

Al Pacino went through hell to get the career defining role of Michael Corleone, the Don's third son.

The Godfather is still the benchmark for the genre.
Paramount Pictures

Coppola told the crowd: "Once I called [Pacino] after he had tested six times, his girlfriend came on the phone and I said, 'I just need Al to come in one more time' and she said, 'What are you doing to him? You're torturing him!' She yelled at me and berated me."

But if Pacino thought it was hard to get the role which saw him nominated for two Academy Awards, Marlon Brando found it much tougher.

Paramount studio executives didn't think Brando would be commercially beneficial and Coppola was forbidden from bringing up his name at one point.

Coppola said: "After that I fell on the floor in a faint. I said, 'If I can't even talk about him, what am I supposed to do?' Fred Roos, who was involved in all of the casting, said, 'All right, if Marlon will do a screen test, will do it for nothing, and will put up a million-dollar bond that he won't cause trouble during the production, you can have him.' And I said, 'I accept.'"

And Coppola said the movie franchise would never have been made now.

He said: "The first Godfather cost $6.5 million and the second cost about $11 million or $12 million. If you convert that, it would take a major studio [to make it], but it would never get through the process of getting an OK.

"Nothing can get a green light unless it's a movie that they can have a whole series of, or a Marvel comic."

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Entertainment, US News, UK Entertainment