Also to consider- Willie Cicci had testified against Michael in GF2. So how would they make this work for GF3?
Not a chance. Though he had a tiny role and not much dialog in GF and II, Spinell was so perfect as Willie Cicci that he gets outsized mention here. But, there'd be no way that Michael Corleone would let him inherit the "olive oil business" after testifying against him. In fact, an open question is whether Michael tried to arrange his death at the same time he was sending Tom to Frankie Pentangeli on his Grim Reaper mission.
