My new idea for a Part IV...

Or a Godfather related post-III story.

As you can see, I've struggled with ideas for more films, books or stories on this board. I've written scripts and novels that have stalled out. But as I was watching part II last night, it came back to me.

In the past I was always stuck on a Vincent-centric story, one that shows his decline into drugs and his eventual death at the hands of the FBI or rival drug cartels.

But as I was thinking about it again last night, I came up with this...

THE CORLEONES

Plot: Someone is knocking off Corleone family muscle. Vincent cannot figure out who is behind it. As he lashes out against his enemies, both real and perceived, the startling truth comes to light....it was Anthony all along. After Mary's death, Anthony blames Vincent and slowly begins to take his revenge with the help of Sonny's legitimate children and taking his place at the head of the Corleone family, just like Michael wanted all along. Only, Michael has changed his tune and tries to advise Anthony against taking control of the family. The film ends with a flashback from part II when Michael is talking with Anthony in his bedroom on the night of the attempted hit in Tahoe. Anthony asks Michael if he help Michael on his business trip to Miami. Michael says no, but Anthony will help him some day...some day...

I know Anthony is in no way cut out for running the family, or would even want to after Mary's death, but I see it as a sacrificial, self-depreciating thing. He hates and blames Vincent and his father so much that he gives himself over to the one thing that his father would despise and detest.

If memory serves me correctly, Sonny and Sandra Corleone had twin girls and a son named Frank. Scott Caan (James Caan's son) would be great to play the role of Frank Corleone when your movie hits the big screen, Death.

I see Frank as a protected son, isolated from the Corleones by his overbearing mother. Maybe he runs a business on his own, but something useful that would give him the cunning and ability to succeed in the organized crime world. Another family member would be a cousin or someone from Sicily...a loose canon type.

Vincent, meanwhile, is stuck between legitimacy and the drug underworld that always seduced his father. In that way he is much like Michael was in part III.

sounds like a great plot. Your theory on Vincent makes a great deal of sense, maybe unexplored....Bravo, now lets write about it

I like you're idea of Vincent not knowing who's attacking him. But I would never ever see Anthony taking over the Corleone crime family. No offense, but that's just too ridiculous.

Anthony taking over would be ridiculous, He said Frank, or a cousin from sicily though, not far fetched. I would still like to see Vincent succeed in any takover attempt by anyone else, i think he would be a great don. Sonny mixed with Vito, and Michael as a mentor! He could be the greatest don ever in the Corleone Family!

Hmm... Anthony taking over on his own would be a bit of a stretch, but I love the idea of him hooking up with one of his cousins and going up against Vincent.

Anthony would be really smart to reach out to one of Connie's kids, which might go a bit of the way to neutralize her. If it was Anthony on his own, she'd throw her weight behind Vincent, who has way more cred even having been outside the Corleone family. At least Vincent has the street cred, while Anthony doesn't even have the law background.

I can definitely see how Mary's death, and the effect it has on Anthony's mother, driving Anthony to seek retribution from those he'd hold responsible.

Excellent points Hagen. The idea of Anthony seeking out one of Connie's sons (considering Michael had their father killed) would be a great storyline, pulling Connie in Two directions. Although, ultimately I would like to see Connie "stick to her guns" with Vincent and realize the "vendetta" that her sons have for Vincent (due to Michael's order to kill their father), is not justified due to her knowledge of Carlo's beytrayl....

Also, Anthony may not have wanted anything to do with his father's business, but I think he would have been at least vaguely aware of the fact that Michael had kept some measure of peace all those years between G2 and G3.

Perhaps through Anthony's perspective, all of a sudden Vincent shows up, everything goes to hell, and Mary winds up being killed.

In a way, Michael's hopes (justified or not) to bring the Corleones into legitimacy way back in the original movie set him on the road to hell. How tragic it would be if Anthony, simply wanting to neutralize/stop Vincent (with whom all the violence started again, from Anthony's perspective) ends up walking the same road to hell his father did.

Even though I'm a guy who doesn't like to see a great movies tarnished by overdone sequels or remakes. But I think if they ever did do another Godfather they should do a new storyline. I know the Godfather is about the Corleone's but I think it would be interesting and different to start a new chapter about Vincent's time as boss. They could expand on characters like Lou Pennino and make more characters. I'm not saying it would be better but it would be different which might be cool

G4

http://www.youtube.com/TheNewYorkDon

Use this actor & u could have flashbacks to G1

http://www.youtube.com/TheNewYorkDon

In the previous scripts I've written, Anthony is a drug addict who has lost his voice and ability to sing following Mary's death. He's hit rock bottom. So maybe someone from the family steps in to help him, maybe Sonny's legit son, who could use Anthony as a pawn to take over the family?

I also thought it would be cool to have Vincent trying to do a hostile takeover of a pro baseball team...and Anthony hooks up with the people who own the team to exact his revenge.

It's too awesome part. I love it.

Although Anthony was unimpressive in GIII due to the C-list actor and lack of things to do, they could easily remedy it.

Also, while I dislike GIII and wouldn't want another sequel, IMHO the fresh thing to do would be for Mary's death to result in Anthony going back, passing his bar and becoming a Guiliani-like figure - an obsessed and somewhat unscrupulous fighter against organized crime.
And yes, vendetta against Vincent (and Michael?) would fit quite well there.

There are many ways of self-destruction, after all. I don't see why we need the repetition of a boy-scout going bad due to family influence - Michael's story plumbed that pretty definitively, IMHO.

As to Sonny's sons (IIRC he has 2 in the films, Frank and Sonny Jr., whose screaming during the crucial phone conversation dooms his father), I really don't see them suddenly turning to life of crime in their thirties - forties.

Connie's kids were so completely absent in GIII (which provoked a strong WTF! reactions from me), that I don't see how they could be re-introduced.

In fact, GIII in general and her part in it in particular would have made vastly more sense if Connie's son Victor instead of clearly intended as fan-service character Vincent, had been an aspiring 3rd generation gangster and Michael's troublesome apprentice.
There would have been no need for ridiculous cousinly romance to create emotional connection to the main characters either. Oh, well...

Hmmm....a Corleone becoming a politician -- what his father (and grandfather) always wanted...only not the way they wanted. Anthony goes after Vincent, tries to bring him down, inciting a battle between two men akin to something like, I dunno, Michael Mann's Heat.

FFC said they did envision a Part IV where Vincent becomes something akin to Pablo Escobar, so it could be interesting to see Anthony putting the pressure on VIncent and the Corleone family to mirror Escobar's eventual downfall.

And here it is, almost a year to the day that I started this topic and it's still going, with several solid outlines and themes for a Part IV.

Who says it can't happen???