Hollywood has found a new way to keep some of their classic franchises alive without resorting to remakes, reboots, and sequels. In the case of Citizen Kane, we aren’t likely to see that movie again, so instead we get Mank, which is about the making of it. Ben Affleck is doing the same with Chinatown. Similarly, The Godfather is the most cherished of mafia films and unlikely for a followup, which is why we now have two projects about how Francis Ford Coppola brought it from page to screen. And now one of those has just cast Armie Hammer in a key role.
According to THR, Armie Hammer will play producer Al Ruddy in The Offer, a limited event series of 10-episodes over at Paramount+, the streamer formerly known as CBS All Access. The series will follow Ruddy as he worked with Coppola and author Mario Puzo to bring the author’s epic novel to the big screen in 1972.
Interestingly, when The Offer does arrive on Paramount+, the actual Godfather films may not be available on the service due to a deal struck with NBCUniversal to send the trilogy to Peacock for a few years.
This isn’t the only such project out there, either. Oscar Isaac and Jake Gyllenhaal are leading a feature film about the making of The Godfather, as well. A new cut of Coppola’s The Godfather Part III is available now, as well, so this brand is being used in every way imaginable that doesn’t involve the usual ways of extension. I suppose that’s a good thing? At least we can’t complain about Hollywood running out of ideas…well, at least not as much.
