Necro

Paramount prepping new Godfather?
Posted : November 10, 2006 Writer : Clint Morris

Remember those rumours about a possible “Godfather 4�? Remember how they said it would star Anthony LaPaglia, and be filmed in his native Australia? Well, those rumours were a pile of horse dun… apparently.

The good news is - there might be another “Godfather� film – or two.

Thanks to the success of the book “The Godfather Returns� – and the newly commissioned “The Godfather’s Revenge� – Paramount have decided to try and transfer those literary beauties to the big screen. Though the studio snapped up the rights to the books – both written by Mark Winegardner – quite a few months back, its only this month that “Returns and Revenge films seem to have been ramped up to active -development status – meaning they’ll probably get underway within the next year� a rat within the ranks at the studios, tells Moviehole. “I don’t think the new film is going to be done in Australia [though], no�.

The casting problem with “The Godfather Returns� is that the story is set between “The Godfather� and “The Godfather II� – yep, its been quite a few years since Al Pacino and company gave life to those characters, so it’d be almost impossible to fluke it with CGI – so unless someone can turn back the clock…

“They’ll re-cast naturally�, the studio leak says. “I guess you’ll notice it about as much as Brandon Routh stepping in for Christopher Reeve in Superman [Returns] – a film that was supposedly set between Superman II and Superman III. Difference being here of course, all the characters will probably be recast�.

The second film, “Godfathers Revenge�, will much easier to cast because it’s a “prequel, about how Tommy Hagen came to shack up with the Corleone’s�.

No word whether Andy Garcia will get a look-in in any of the films, but the actor, who co-starred in “The Godfather Part III�, said recently that he’s surprised Paramount haven’t done anything “Godfather� sooner. "The irony and fascination for me is that - with all the movies Paramount takes risks on each year - they have this franchise people are desperate to see and they won't green-light it�, said Garcia. (Garcia was said to have suggested to director Francis Ford Coppola that Leonardo Di Caprio play Sonny Corleone in a “Godfather� prequel).

Here’s my two-bob : I see the films happening, but I see them being VERY different beasts, - almost disparate - to the original films. They may feature the same characters, they may even retread over familiar territory, but they’ll be more contemporary re-working’s if anything. I guess, in some respects, they have to be – today’s main cinema-going audience weren’t even around – and I’m predicting eight out of ten 17-year-olds haven’t even seen the original films – when Brando presented us with an offer we “couldn’t refuse� all those years ago.

Thanks to “Ms Published�

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