If There Were To Be A Godfather IV...

It should be CGI. Al Pacino is getting very old these days and should lend his voice and likeness to a CGI sequel. Or there should be a CGI movie or a miniseries or TV show taking place between Part II and III like I saw some suggestions on the forum. Or you could have a CGI movie based on the sequel books. If anyone were to touch The Godfather series it should be CGI therefore it would decrease the chances of it being a complete disaster for the entire series. My personal opinion is that no one should touch The Godfather series unless it could be guaranteed that it won't be a disaster.

Any thoughts?

I don't know. You just don't take a movie series in which two of them are the best movies of all-time and turn them CGI. It just sounds wrong.

True, but yet it would be a lot better than someone ruining the series by remaking the first one and it being live action.

I couldnt agree with you more IMB. Now, that would be a question of " if they were DEFINETLY going to make a GF4" than yes, put it in cgi. Theres nothing left for Micheal to do after part 3 than, well die. After the end of part 3 he retreats to Sicily and lives out the remainder of his life in misery. So, I suppose you mean a younger Micheal, but then again, his voice changed so much since Part 2. But I'd say in general if the film must be made, and follow the earlier exploits of the Corleone family, it could work. I know what you mean when you say Pacinos getting old, It really hit me when I saw Righteous Kill, he's 69 years old. But then, say if it were about vincent mike could have a very small role, or merely a cameo. that would be the way to do it, good thinking IMB.

Thank you.

Any time. I really understand what you mean. Other people on the board may not like the idea but if the CGI characters looked good enough it could be a good film. I completely agree w/ you.

Yeah CGI is getting better and better each day, if they can achieve a CGI Godfather that looks as good as Beowulf did (I hated that movie but the CGI was amazing) than that would be great.

Andy Garcia would be the Don Corleone in the fourth one. Because Michael died in the third film.

Of course. I dont know whether or not the film should take place after 1979 -80 but before 97, when Micheal dies. At least a cameo by Pacino would be nice.
Because he obviosly couldnt play his younger self.

I'm sorry but Andy Garcia being the main character would be a disaster, no offense to Andy Garcia but his character would bring the Corleone family down to it's destruction. Maybe Michael had an illegitimate son and he could be Don Corleone.

Your right, I think that would work, you can actually do what you want for the film.

Yeah.

What about Anthony? You could start the movie with him being made don. Everyone says "but he said he would never be like his father!". Then the rest of the movie is the story of how he became the don. At the end of part II, michael says that he doesnt care what his father's plans are for him...kinda like what anthony said to michael in part III.

Welcome to the forums, km.
I could never see Anthony going into th buisness. Especially not after Marys death. What would the explanation be, that he just decided to go w/ his father. Micheal entered the buisness because of the circumstances his family was in at the time. There would have to be a plausible reason for Anthony to be stuck in the family.

He could decide that performing isn't what he wants to do. He finishes law school. Say Vincent takes over and with the advisement of Michael (who can still be alive since he died at a very old age), the Corleone family becomes the most power family in the states. There would be no major threats. Vincent, like Sonny, is very strong-willed, and dim-witted and creates a problem with a stronger family and he is killed. Michael comes to Anthony and convinces him that he can do what he couldn't do while he was don, and completely legitimize the family. I'd have a feeling that no matter what the storyline would be, any number 4 would probably end up being the worst of the movies, but its fun playing around with ideas.

Or what if Anthony becomes a legitimate politician and has a completely legitimate life. Vincent is a horrible don, dealing with drugs and getting the Corleone family in major trouble with other families because of his temper. Michael doesn't like what is happening, but since Vincent is don, he doesn't do anything. A rival family has a big problem with the Corleone family, and instead of going after Vincent, they go after Anthony and his family to get to not only Vincent, but Michael. Anthony knows what is going on, and goes to Michael for an explanation. The family kidnaps all of Anthony's family and the Corleone's try to figure out who exactly is doing all of this. Vincent finds out from sources who it is, and before he says anything to Michael or Anthony, he goes after the people and dies doing so. All of these events completely change Anthony, like how Michael changed, and eventually becomes don to try to completely legitimize the family so that there is no more violence.

I don't think Anthony could last in the Mafia, but good theory though.

That's how you can end the Godfather series. He's the last Corleone isn't he? He doesn't last and either runs away forever, or dies. There is no true Corleone left, and so the Corleone dynasty is done.

Let it die in peace, in all honesty I could never see Anthony as head of the family. I dont like the character of Anthony at all. I dont think anybody could really take him seriously as Boss. With Micheal, even when he opposed his father, he always had a sort of quiet intensity. You knew why Vito wanted him to run everything. With Anthony, while he's not really chracterized much in the original book, he still dosent seem like he would be up to the task. Though I obviosly could be wrong, just my opinion.

Screw CGI, dude. If there ever is a GodFather IV, its got to match the level of acting of the previous ones, even if the story-line doesnt. Pacino could wear make-up like Brando did to appear as an elderly advisor to Vincent Corleone, the present boss of the Corleone family, who visits Michael in his Sicilian villa, in flashbacks of course, since he dies at the end of III. An older Andy Garcia could play Vincent as the boss of a modern crime family dealing with the breakdown of Omerta, the drug-scene and most importantly the RICO statutes.

He would need his trusted advisors and inner circle, Talia Shire is still alive, so why couldnt Connie Corleone be in there? She did sponser Vincent into the family after all. And Nick Cage played a Corleone button in III, he could reprise the role. Maybe Michael's son Anthony has another son, who becomes fascinated with his "Uncle" Vincent, and "Great Aunt" Connie's stories of his great-grandfather, enough to drift towards, to Anthony's consternation, the sort of "life" his Uncle lives.

Really though, if it was going to be done at all, the chances are it will disappoint. It would be built up so much that the expectations would be impossible to meet. Id get in line and buy my ticket to see it though.

But CGI? What are you, 12?

It's pretty much impossible for the actors to return because of how old they got, that's why with CGI they could scan the actors' faces and make them appear younger, CGI is revolutionizing the film industry, pretty soon films won't need actors anymore.

Here's a thought. Everyone knows Tom Hagen was a lawyer. He was also made consigliere. What if Anthony quits his singing career, and goes back to law school? Maybe act as the family attorney like Tom was. MAYBE even after that... consigliere? Thats just one of my theories.

My next one is this. What if Michael became consigliere to Vincent? Just like Vito was to Michael when he made him Don. Because honestly I dont think that Michael will ever be out of the family business. He even states in Part III... "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."

Even if Anthony went back to law school I highly doubt he would be strong enough to be the family lawyer or the Consigliere. And I think Michael did actually become Consigliere to Vincent.

My very vague concept of a GF IV storyline would have Anthony embittered and stunned by the murder of Mary, along with feelings of guilt (since she was murdered after coming to watch him perform).

Anthony could finish law school (from the dialogue in the movie I inferred he was pretty close to graduating anyway) and THEN enter the family business as an apprentice to B.J. Harrison (whom we are led to believe is at least professionally competent).

But I think Anthony would probably already have a pretty good idea of what the 'family business' is, he is under no misconceptions, he has not bought Michael's snow job the way Mary had, so he would hardly be going in completely naive.

Although Michael would be temporarily shattered by Mary's murder, more than anything I think he would be convinced that there was no hope for him (or the family) to "get out clean," to really go legit, he was condemned beyond redemption, and he would return to serving as Vincent's consigliere as Vito had for him.

I think people underestimate Anthony. In fact, in a way, he's a lot like Michael.

Michael went against his father's wishes to continue college. What did he do? He joined the Marine Corps.
Then after the murder in the restuarant, Michael became the man he was today. (or..in the movie )

I think Anthony has the same air about him. He went against HIS father to do what he thought was right, or what he wanted. If push came to shove, I think Anthony could become as strong as his father.

And I think push came to shove when he saw his baby sister murdered in front of his very own eyes.

I agree and think Anthony would be Vincenzo Corleone's Underboss in 4.

I think a GF 4 could be ripe for several major "reversals of form."

a) Everyone assumes Michael would be shattered, unable to function, would shuffle off to Sicily a beaten man before finally dying in pathetic isolation in 1997.

b) Everyone assumes Kay would be turned against "the family" forever, would cut off contact with Michael once and for all.

c) Everyone assumes Anthony would continue his career as an effeminate opera singer, and want nothing whatsoever to do with Michael from then on.

d) Everyone assumes Vincent has completely failed as Don, the killing of Mary is the proof.

e) Everyone assumes after pulling on her "Black Madonna" kerchief, Connie will collapse into grief the way she did after Carlo was killed.

I think in a GOOD Godfather IV plotline, ALL of those presumptions could be turned backwards:

a) Michael has seen family members killed before (even ordered it). He survived the death of Vito, the death of Sonny, the deaths of Fredo and Tom Hagen. As I note above, I think the main change in Michael would be he would give up on the idea of ever taking the family really legitimate and turn totally nihilistic and cynical -- he would say, "as long as I'm going to hell, I might as well take as many people as I can along with me."

b) I think Kay would also give up on the idea of ever escaping the Corleone legacy, she would believe she and Anthony were infected beyond redemption, and she would decide to start working for revenge in her own way.

c) I think Anthony would also be galvanized into a quest for revenge, and decide to enter the family business to achieve that revenge.

d) Vincent of course has failed personally as Don, in the death of his lover Mary, but he has not failed professionally -- in fact, he has been quite successful; all the major players conspiring to ruin the Corleones (Lucchesi, Altobello, Joey Zasa, Bishop Gilday, Keinzig "the swiss banker f$#$k") have all been killed. (Plus the Vatican deal with the Corleones has gone through.) With most of the old-time dons on "The Commission" dead after the helicopter attack, Vincent probably stands as the most powerful Don left in the country, possibly in the world. Remember, literally within 10 seconds of the shots being fired at Michael (and hitting Mary), Vincent stepped up, drew a piece, and blew away Mosca the hitman. Thus, Vincent actually did succeed in his capacity as Don -- the key Corleone Family personnel (Michael, Connie and himself) all survived, with only the loss of a couple low-level hired hands (the 'Twins'), one Corleone-affiliated Sicilian (Calo) and one 'civilian' (Mary), while virtually all the high-ranking people in the other 'families' were wiped out.

e) Connie would also be shaken up after the killing of Mary, but she would also have been proven right that the other families were going to take a shot at Michael, and the Corleone Family needed a decisive, ruthless leader at the helm. She would get over the killing of Mary fairly quickly.

I think in any GF IV, the question of "where are Connie's sons, Victor and Michael Francis" would be a key theme in the storylines, and we might also see the return of one or more of Sonny's legitimate sons.

He might be a lot like Michael but by the way he was portrayed in Part 3 there is no way in hell he would last in the Mafia.

Garcia doesn't have the portray the likes of Brando or Pacino.

Actors such as Benicio Del Toro, Johnny Depp may have slightest chance to come close to the intense acting required to make a successful Godfather 4.

And the other thing i cant see is that, Godfather being set to the present 2009 time frame, where mobs and gangster don't have such an impact in the society. It will be unrealistic.

so they should go back to the 70s-80s

Might as well bring this one back up.

I wonder if Paramount might be spurred by the success of the reboot of the Star Trek franchise with a new cast in classic roles.

I don't like the idea of CGI. I believe that we should just leave the movie and it's sequel as it is, a Classic. And the chances of Coppola directing another Godfather is slim to none and without Coppola directing, the movie just wouldn't seem right. That is of course my opinion and I could easily be proven wrong. Who really knows how properly it could be executed.

I'm with you on that.

What if Vincent asked Anthony to oversee the still-legitimate side of the Corleone family business? Anthony gradually gets drawn into the darker side of what it is to be a Corleone, but at the end, after the death of Vincent, he walks away from it.

A side thought: I always thought it would be cool if Michael's death actually turned out NOT to be natural causes -- maybe Connie, in true Sicilian fashion (and perhaps going a little loony toon over time, as well), waited for the perfect opportunity to kill Michael, to revenge all the "wrongs" he'd done her over time. (He wouldn't be the FIRST old man she'd poisoned, after all...)

After Mary's death, Anthony would want no part of the family business, legit or not.

In my fantasy Part IV, I envision Anthony taking revenge on Vincent...blaming him for Mary, and in turn, becoming part of the family, which is something his father wouldn't want now after losing one child to the business.

I envision a Part IV with Vincent's death, and Anthony closing the door on Michael, a la Kay, in Part I.

Taking that a little further, then, Anthony could essentially be working from within, DELIBERATELY doing all he could do to bring down the Family. Revenge is a very Sicilian thing, after all -- I think they do it better than almost anyone, at least in the world of the Godfather!

I've long thought a sequel to the Godfather trilogy was obsolete, nonetheless recently I've started to think some otherwise,

because to me, you absolutely need Al Pacino in a sequel, and as we saw him die at the end of the 3rd, that rules out any possible return, but we saw him die much older then he was when Vincent Mancini took over,

having read "the omerta" (which had some good ideas, but was but so/so in the end), some of it's ideas could be recycled as sequel of the Godfather,

we could have Michael Corleone form a "secret" champion for the Corleone's, a sicilian from their hometown (who as youngster whose father has been murdered, to echo the start of the Godfather),

movie could start opposite as the ending of the first, the power of the Corleone's on the decline, and the elimination of the Corleone topmembers, Michael Corleone being shot, Vincent Mancini, Anthony Corlone, the capo's,

the "ennemy's" (powerfull south american drug cartel with connections in the US and sicilian maffia, and CIA connections) would have set their eyes on the legitime assets of the Corleone's (banks, real estate companies) they want to use to whitewash their drugs money,

the "heir" of Michael would then come forth (in flashbacks we see how Michale 'trained' him), taking head of the family, Anthony and Vincent would now him adult children also (could make a love story with one of the daughters and the "heir")

Michael Corleone, would just as father before survive to his wounds and be the consiglieri his father was to him, fulfilling the Corleone revenge, before returning to Sicily where we see him die as the end of the 3rd, the "heir" of the Corleone's could then turn the Corleone's (the remaining off course) finally on the legit path and eliminating every remaining treath to the Corleone's, and becoming himself the next big Don,

the time period would off course be the 70/80's

well that would be how I could live with a sequel

Coppola says in his commentary of the films on DVD and Blu-ray that he envisioned a final film with Puzo in which there would be one more scene between Michael and Vincent before Michael's death. So that means that a fourth film would probably take place in 1996-97.

Pacino is now 74, the age Michael Corleone would be in 1994.

Garcia in recent photos has looked a lot like ... uhm... Francis Ford Coppola, with beard, etc etc.

Talia Shire is 68 and seems semi-retired, although she does attend Hollywood functions and could probably make an appearance as a late-70s Connie.

Franc D'Ambrosio has never appeared in another movie, although he has done a lot of opera and stage work, so theoretically he could play Anthony -- unless Paramount wanted to recast with a bigger name.

I think ANY Godfather IV would almost have to include a couple of Vito's other grandchildren: Santino Jr., Sonny's legitimate son, and Connie's son Michael Francis Rizzi-Corleone, the baby shown being baptized during the mob massacre at the end of GF I in 1955.

Santino could be explained as having left the Corleone family orbit and moved away to Florida to pursue "legitimate" business during GF III.

Michael Francis could be shown as the result of Connie's neglectful parenting in GF II -- it was commented at the time (1959-60) that her older son, Victor, had already been involved in crime, so it would be no big stretch to explain that Michael Francis had been in trouble with the law much of his youth and was off in prison in 1979-80 when GF III took place.

IMO, over the years and multiple divorces, Connie would have dumped the surname Rizzi and any other of her husband's names, and returned to the use of her maiden name -- she always considered herself a Corleone above anything else -- and probably changed her sons' names too.

So by the mid-1990s, Michael Francis Rizzi-Corleone would be about 40 -- an age for which Robert Downey, Jr., 49, could easily pass.

Downey certainly resembles Pacino enough it would be no stretch to sell him as his nephew (or Connie's son).

The theme of GF IV could be Vincent's tenure as Don running into trouble due to bad decisions such as getting involved in narcotics trade, and Santino Jr. and Michael Francis competing to take over after his downfall.

Anthony could return as the "Tom Hagen" figure serving as the legal brains of the family -- his loyalty would be crucial to decide which cousin would take control.

So you would have Sonny's illegitmate son leading the family into disaster, with Sonny's legitimate son and Connie's son competing to replace him -- with Michael's son advising them all.

It would be nice to see Pacino play Michael Corleone one last time and not phone it in like he did in 3. I'm watching Two For The Money right now, and honestly I can't think of any character Pacino has played similar to old Michael from 1 and 2. He's a totally different person now. Can't even picture him playing that serious Michael Corleone character. Just imagine him doing GF 4 and nailing the old Michael. Being convincing. That would be something. Nothing wrong with hoping. Like hoping this Scorsese Hoffa movie actually gets done.

For that matter, the only indication that the death of Michael Corleone took place in 1997 is off-camera commentary by FFC.

There is nothing in-story continuity in GF III that indicates any particular year it has to be.

Obviously Michael is very old and now mostly blind, but really that could be anywhere from 1985 to 2015.

Michael was born in 1920, so he could be an aged and sickly 65, or he might be a well-preserved 95. Some people do reach a kind of 'aging plateau' and don't look much different at 90 than they did at 70.



So that could open quite a bit of flexibility for a possible GF IV. The date of the death scene isn't set in stone.