The Godfather (film series)

The Godfather is a trilogy of American crime films directed by Francis Ford Coppola inspired by the 1969 novel of the same name by Italian American author Mario Puzo. The films follow the trials of the fictional Italian American mafia Corleone family whose patriarch, Vito Corleone, rises to be a major figure in American organized crime. His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. The films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in 1972, 1974, and 1990. The series achieved success at the box office, with the films earning between $430 and $517 million worldwide. The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are both seen by many as two of the greatest films of all time. The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 28 Academy Award nominations and 5 out of 20 Golden Globe Awards.

Film series The Godfather

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 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

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

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.

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. 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".

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. 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.

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. 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.

Many actors were rumoured to be cast in the film: Robert De Niro, Andy García, and Talia Shire were suggested to be reprising their roles. Leonardo DiCaprio was discussed as being cast as a young Sonny Corleone.

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, but following Puzo's death on July 2, Coppola decided to retire the film series indefinitely. 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. The estate of Puzo had sought to keep Paramount Pictures from producing the film based on The Family Corleone. Now resolved, Paramount has gained the rights to make more Godfather films.

Cast

Character Film The Godfather The Godfather Part II The Godfather Part III Michael Corleone Al Pacino Al PacinoLouis Marino Al Pacino Katherine "Kay" Adams Corleone Diane Keaton Albert "Al" Neri Richard Bright Constanzia "Connie" Corleone Talia Shire Theresa Hagen Tere Livrano Francesca Corleone Jeanne Savarino Pesch Kathryn Corleone Janet Savarino Smith Don Tommasino Corrado Gaipa Mario Cotone Vittorio Duse Anthony "Tony" Corleone Anthony Gounaris James Gounaris Franc D'Ambrosio Frederico "Fredo" Corleone John Cazale Vito Corleone Marlon Brando Robert De Niro Thomas "Tom" Hagen Robert Duvall Santino "Sonny" Corleone James Caan Roman Coppola Peter Clemenza Richard S. Castellano Bruno Kirby Salvatore "Sal" Tessio Abe Vigoda John ApreaAbe Vigoda Carmela Corleone Morgana King Morgana King Carlo Rizzi Gianni Russo Sandrinella "Sandra" Corleone Julie Gregg Rocco Lampone Tom Rosqui Willi Cicci Joe Spinell Genco Abbandando Franco Corsaro Frank Sivero Johnny Fontane Al Martino Al Martino Calo Franco Citti Franco Citti Lucy Mancini Jeannie Linero Jeannie Linero Enzo Aguello Gabrielle Torrei Gabrielle Torrei Apollonia Vitelli-Corleone Simonetta Stefanelli Fabrizio Angelo Infanti colspan="2" Captain McCluskey Sterling Hayden colspan="2" Jack Woltz John Marley colspan="2" Emilio Barzini Richard Conte colspan="2" Virgil Sollozzo Al Lettieri colspan="2" Carmine Cuneo Rudy Bond colspan="2" Luca Brasi Lenny Montana colspan="2" Paulie Gatto Johnny Martino colspan="2" Amerigo Bonasera Salvatore Corsitto colspan="2" Morris "Moe" Greene Alex Rocco colspan="2" Bruno Tattaglia Tony Giorgio colspan="2" Nazorine Vito Scotti colspan="2" Philip Tattaglia Victor Rendina colspan="2" Vitelli Saro Urzi colspan="2" Victor Stracci Don Costello colspan="2" Don Zaluchi Louis Guss colspan="2" Mary Corleone Sofia Coppola Hyman Roth Lee Strasberg Frank Pentangeli Michael V. Gazzo Pat Geary G. D. Spradlin Fabrizio Fanucci Gastone Moschin Deanna Dunn-Corleone Marianna Hill Signor Roberto Leopoldo Trieste Johnny Ola Dominic Chianese Bussetta Amerigo Tot Merle Johnson Troy Donahue Vito's mother Maria Carta Francesco Ciccio Giuseppe Sillato Marcia Roth Fay Spain FBI Man Harry Dean Stanton Carmine Rosato Carmine Caridi Tony Rosato Danny Aiello Vincenzo Pentangeli Salvatore Po Mosca Ignazio Pappalardo Strollo Andrea Maugeri Vincent Corleone colspan="2" Andy García Osvaldo "Ozzie" Altobello colspan="2" Eli Wallach Joey Zasa colspan="2" Joe Mantegna B J Harrison colspan="2" George Hamilton Grace Hamilton colspan="2" Bridget Fonda Cardinal Lamberto colspan="2" Raf Vallone Archbishop Gilday colspan="2" Donal Donnelly Frederick Keinszig colspan="2" Helmut Berger Dominic Abbandando colspan="2" Don Novello Andrew Hagen colspan="2" John Savage Mosca colspan="2" Mario Donatone Licio Lucchesi colspan="2" Enzo Robutti Spara colspan="2" Michele Russo Lou Pennino colspan="2" Robert Cicchini Armand colspan="2" Rogerio Miranda Francesco colspan="2" Carlos Miranda Anthony Squigliaro colspan="2" Vito Antuofermo Albert Volpe colspan="2" Carmine Caridi Frank Romano colspan="2" Don Costello Leo Cuneo colspan="2" Al Ruscio Matty Parisi colspan="2" Mickey Knox

Reception Box office performance Film U.S. release date Box office gross Budget U.S. and Canada Other territories Worldwide The Godfather March 15, 1972 – $6–7.2 million The Godfather Part II December 20, 1974 $13 million The Godfather Part III December 25, 1990 $66,666,062 $70,100,000 $136,766,062 $54 million Total $ $ $– $– million

The first two films have grossed an estimated $800 million in theatrical, video, and television revenues.

Critical response The films appear in many "Top" film lists, such as the American Film Institution's 100 Years...100 Movies, Time magazine's All-Time 100 Movies, the IMDb Top 250, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association's Top 10 Films, and James Berardinelli's Top 100. The Godfather Trilogy was ranked at No. 5 in Empire magazine's "The 33 Greatest Movie Trilogies" in 2010. The Independent ranked it at No. 6 on its list of "10 greatest movie trilogies of all time". Screen Rant ranked it at No. 4 on its list of "The Best Movie Trilogies Of All Time". Film Rotten Tomatoes Metacritic The Godfather 97% (9.4/10 average rating) (153 reviews) 100 (16 reviews) The Godfather Part II 96% (9.7/10 average rating) (129 reviews) 90 (18 reviews) The Godfather Part III 66% (6.4/10 average rating) (68 reviews) 60 (19 reviews) The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone 86% (7.5/10 average rating) (59 reviews) 76 (14 reviews)

Accolades Academy Awards 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 AwardsAwardAwards wonThe GodfatherThe Godfather Part IIThe Godfather Part III Picture Director Actor Supporting Actor Supporting Actress Adapted Screenplay Art Direction Cinematography Costume Design Film Editing Original Dramatic Score Original Song Sound

Golden Globe Awards