Francis Ford Coppola Has A New Cut Of ‘The Godfather Part III’ Coming To Theaters This December

Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are stone cold classics, setting an impossibly high bar for every mafia movie to come after them. Uh, The Godfather Part III? Well, not so much. The film, which features Sofia Coppola in a prominent role she clearly wasn’t ready for, is so disliked some prefer to pretend it doesn’t exit. Count me as one of those. Well, Coppola is going to do something about that.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Godfather Part III, Coppola is working on an entirely new version, which will now be titled Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Not only that, but Paramount plans to release this new cut in theaters this December.

Damn. I’m down for that. Weak storyline, Sofia Coppola, and an overacting Andy Garcia be damned.

“‘Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone’ is an acknowledgment of Mario’s and my preferred title and our original intentions for what became ‘The Godfather: Part III,’” said Coppola. “For this version of the finale, I created a new beginning and ending, and rearranged some scenes, shots, and music cues. With these changes and the restored footage and sound, to me, it is a more appropriate conclusion to ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Godfather: Part II’ and I’m thankful to Jim Gianopulos and Paramount for allowing me to revisit it.”

Coppola has been known to fiddle with some of his most beloved movies. Just look at what he did with Apocalypse Now Redux, so it makes sense he’d do this for another movie he feels is imperfect. I can’t wait to see how he reshapes the final days of Michael Corleone, perhaps into a film worthy of its predecessors. [Variety]

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.

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