No movie in Hollywood history has ever received as much attention as ‘The Godfather‘ series. Francis Ford Coppola outdid himself with this franchise, and cinema lovers still review this film to this day. However, after ‘The Godfather 3‘, the audience expected the makers to release the fourth part of the film series. But much to the audience’s dismay, it did not happen. So let’s find out the reason for it.
Related: Robert De Niro Once Rejected A Significant Role In ‘The Godfather’ For A Very Serious Reason
Why ‘Godfather 4’ Didn’t Happen?
‘The Godfather‘ has been a fan-favorite movie, with its family crime genre keeping people on the edge. The different timelines, the depiction of violence, and the collapse of the American Dream were just some aspects that proved new in Hollywood.
No one expected the movie to find success with normal actors and a director who produced nominal films that flopped at the box office. But it went above and beyond everyone’s expectations and landed 9 Oscar awards, including Best Picture.
While Coppola was reluctant to go for the third installment, he did it to get out of a huge debt he was under. His film which cost $26 million crashed and directing ‘The Godfather 3‘ was the only chance to save him. He was pretty content and satisfied with the ending of Part 2 hence, he didn’t want to go for Part 3.
After filming of ‘The Godfather 3‘ started, Coppola started discussing the next installment with Mario Puzo, the scriptwriter and author of ‘The Godfather‘ series. The plot of ‘The Godfather 4‘ was in their mind and they wanted to work on it if the third film worked at the box office.
In case you missed: Al Pacino vs Robert De Niro: Who Has Done Better Work?
Did ‘Godfather 3’ Disappoint The Audience?
Although many people find the end of ‘The Godfather 3‘ to be the right point to finish the series, there is a whole other world that wants a new film. After the huge success of ‘The Godfather 2‘ which seemed almost like a sequel and the prequel due to its changing timeline, the third part disappointed the audience a bit. They expected the same sort of storyline but what they got was a man who wanted to legalize the business, a man who dwelled on the sins he had committed in his lifetime. Moreover, the film didn’t perform well and it received an underwhelming response from the audience.
Unfortunately, due to the untimely death of Mario Puzo in July 1999, the idea of ‘The Godfather 4‘ dropped and the audience didn’t get to see the Corleone family once again on the screen. Coppola, after Puzo’s death, did not want to delve into the project. He abandoned it. He was quite happy where the film ended as extending it would not have worked at the box office.
If ‘The Godfather 4‘ had been made then its plot would have been about Vincent as the head of the Corleone family and the face of the franchise. The flashbacks to the Corleone family and Robert De Niro’s peak time would have been the real focus. They wanted to form Part 4 on a similar pattern to Part 2. Additionally, the timeline link between the past and present would have remained. Since it didn’t happen, in 2020, Coppola re-edited some parts of Godfather 3 and released it to the audience. It is now named ‘Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone’.
The reason for this re-edit was that Coppola finds a cut in the movie to the most precious thing. It can add or cut some details to change the narrative of the film. Moreover, it can give a new direction and perception to the audience. He wants them to think differently this time but cut a few scenes.
You might also like to read: “I Have All Of Her Albums”: Robert De Niro Expresses His Admiration For Taylor Swift’s Music
