“But, for you, Michael I Wanted Something Different”

After the success of Godfather I and II, the push was on to come up with a script that would continue with the saga. Hoping to latch on to the cash flow of the first two films it seemed everyone and his brother had their own ideas as to where the sage should go next. Things could have really turned out different for Michael and the family if some of the other script options had been picked up. The Don had told Michael in Godfather I that he wanted something different for him. Some of the scripts that were offered up provided some really different scenarios for the future of the Family. One plot did not build on II but rather concerned a whole new group of characters. The thinking was that since the original writers were not going to be involved, it made sense to go in an entirely different direction. The plot cen-tered around an alliance between the Mafia and the CIA. The Mafia assassinated communist dictators in Latin America in ex-change for the CIA's help in smuggling dope. Now who would ever believe that a connection between the underworld and the government could ever be established? Anyway, the thought was that the remaining characters from II were what the fans wanted to see. The saga it was felt had to continue where it had left off.

Another script presented the plot: Michael dies of cancer, and his estranged son, Anthony, tries to rid the family of its mob holdings and go straight; but Sonny's son drags the family in further gangland warfare. Tom Hagen dies in a shootout at the end. The view here was that if Michael was out of the picture too soon in the movie the central character would be gone. It also seemed unlikely that Anthony would follow in his father's footsteps and fall into the same trap as his own father did by getting involved in mob violence. There was also some doubt that Sonny's son would be accepted at a level that would give him so much power.

Mario Puzo, the original author, ( How many of you thought Coppola wrote it?) wrote a script. In this version, the Mafia and the CIA are at war. Michael is a Howard Hughes-like recluse on his Lake Tahoe estate, rumored to be mentally ill. Well this one picks up where the other ended. I wonder if Michael is still sitting in the same

Go To Page: 1 2