OK, so I am corny as hell, but I don't care. I wrote a faux interview as if I was the script-writer for a Godfather 4 movie. Enjoy!
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When Paramount Studios made rookie scriptwriter Sean Jester an offer he couldn’t refuse, he, well, couldn’t refuse it. Being the self-proclaimed “biggest Godfather fan alive”, he jumped at the chance to write The Godfather, Part IV, which will be released this December.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Jester says sitting next to a window in his New York City apartment, overlooking Battery Park and in the distance, the Statue of Liberty. “I mean, writing a new Godfather movie was just fun on its own, even if I never had a chance to make it into a movie.”
At first, Jester’s script was simply fan fiction, which can be found plastered all over the Internet. Want to read Back to the Future, Part 4 or Goonies 2? Go look on-line, there are dozens of fan-written scripts available for your reading pleasure. And some of them, as Jester found out, aren’t that bad.
“I never even thought my script was the best Godfather 4 script out there. I’ve read ones that are better.” Jester says, drinking a National Bohemian beer, which used to be brewed in his hometown of Baltimore. “Had them shipped here on Paramount’s dime,” Jester grins.
But when a Paramount studio executive found Jester’s script on Gangster BB, a Godfather themed message board, he passed it along through the proper channels, and before he knew it, Jester was getting a phone call from the head of Paramount himself.
“They said they wanted to buy the rights to my script, which would have been great in and of itself. I’ve heard of that kind of thing happening before. But then they said they wanted me to work on it with some professional screenwriters, and that I would be involved in the writing process until the end of production and I was floored. After all, I’m just a regular guy from Baltimore. I work a nine to five job and come home to watch Lost just like the rest of America. Who knew this could happen out of the blue?”
And while Godfather fans will no doubt be excited to hear the film’s famous music play over opening credits once again, they are also skeptical that a new film is even being made, especially considering that series regulars Francis Ford Coppola and
Mario Puzo won’t have any creative involvement.
In the late 90’s, Coppola and Puzo started discussing The Godfather, Part IV. Their idea was to focus on a young Sonny Corleone in flashbacks, a la Part II, and also tell the modern day story of his illegitimate son, Vincent, played in Part III by Andy Garcia. Rumors spread like wildfire. Who would play a young Sonny Corleone? Scott Caan? Leonardo DiCaprio? But after nothing came of those talks, Puzo passed away a few months later and Coppola never tried to resurrect the series without his writing partner.
And when Mark Winegardner wrote two direct sequels to Puzo’s original Godfather novel, and ElectronicArts released a Godfather video game, the prospect of more Godfather films being made came back to life. But Winegardner’s books were panned by critics and fans alike, and the videogame, while successful, failed to create the social impact that other games made into movies have had in the past.
And so it wasn’t until a lone studio executive started surfing the web, and stumbled across Jester’s script, that a new Godfather film went back into development.
So has Jester ever spoken with Coppola himself?
“I called him a few times, and finally pinned him down. I just told him that I had nothing but respect for Puzo and him, and the movies they made together. I told him that I wanted him to have final approval on the script, but he politely declined. He seemed like he was ready to move on and didn’t want to be involved in any way.
Coppola, who has had his share of money problems lately, will serve as a producer, in name only. “I will never read a page of the script or set foot on the set,” Coppola says, “But if having my name attached to the film will make it more money, and thus, make me money, then I am all for it.”
“I really wish he would be involved in some way,” Jester says, “But it hasn’t deterred me from writing the Godfather movie that I want to see made.”
Jester never spoke to Winegardner. “There’s no reason. The script has nothing to do with any of his books.” Jester said, with a tone of distaste in his voice. “I never read The Godfather’s Revenge, but The Godfather Returns was probably one of the most disappointing books I’ve ever read.” Jester frowns.
“When I heard they were going to release a sequel to the book, I almost shit my pants I was so excited. I’d read the back of a shampoo bottle if there was something about the Godfather on it. So naturally, I read the book, hoping to learn about some of the gaps that existed in the movies. But there wasn’t much of that going on. It seemed like Mark wanted to inject himself into the book somehow, so he created a character that has a lot of impact on Michael and the Corleone family, but it’s a character that was never mentioned in any of the movies. He wasn’t a very interesting character either. And when Mark had the chance to flesh out some of the backstory, like how Clemenza died, he dropped the ball.”
Jester is referring to Clemenza’s absence in Part II. Frank Pentangelli, Clemenza’s successor says, “That was no heart attack,” in the film when referring to Clemenza’s death.
“Part II planted the seed that Clemenza was killed. It was a brilliant move by Puzo and Coppola to do it. It added another level to the films. Go to any Godfather message board, and you’ll see dozens of discussions about whether or not Clemenza actually died from a heart attack. It’s one of, if not, the biggest unanswered question in the Godfather trilogy. Anyway, Mark had a chance to expand on this unanswered question, but didn’t. He had Clemenza die of a heart attack, in the kitchen no less. I just thought it was a missed opportunity to really make those books mean something other than a chance to make money off of the Godfather name. And he made Fredo gay. Please.”
Speaking of that, does Jester think that his script will cash in on the Godfather name?
“I don’t see how it could, since I never wrote it for money. I wrote it out of love for these movies and the desire to see more of what happens in the Corleone universe. But never even imagined in my wildest dreams that it would someday become a movie. I’m sure producers and studio executives would love to make money from the Godfather name, but I never intended to do that. Will this script allow me to live a little more comfortably than I did before? Sure, but I was never in this for the money.”
Jester is also mum on what the script is about.
“I’d love to sit here and tell you all about it. But Paramount is keeping me under close wraps. They’ve got a product to sell and they obviously don’t want people to know what happens before the movie is released.”
When pressed for a hint, Jester does open up a bit.
“Ah, to hell with it. It’s about the downfall of the Corleone family. I mean, this is really the nail in the coffin. People always say, “Michael died at the end of Part III.” And that is true. But he died an old man, and it was obvious that a lot of time passed between Mary’s death and Michael’s. Maybe 20-25 years. And that’s not to say that Michael is the driving force behind this movie, because let’s face it, after watching his daughter take the bullet that was intended for him, he’s pretty much tapped out in the emotional department.”
So will Michael play a role in the new film?
“Yes, he’s definitely a force in the film. But he’s not the main driving force in it, the way he was in Part II and Part III. I look at his involvement in Part IV the way he was in the beginning of Part I. He wasn’t involved with the family business, but he was around. So I kind of like the way his character comes full circle in that regard. He’s still a part of the family, but not involved in the business.”
So who is the “driving force of the film?”
“Vincent is definitely the main character. He was made Don of the family in Part III so it would be foolish to have someone else take over. It’s about his struggle to run the family as an illegitimate Corleone, in the shadow of his father, and in the time of drugs and the FBI and all the other stuff that destroyed the mafia in the 1980’s and 1990’s.”
Will there be flashbacks to a young Sonny, like Coppola and Puzo hinted at when they first discussed making a Part IV before Puzo’s death?
“No, definitely no flashbacks. To do that would be just a rip-off of Part II’s structure, which is quite possibly the most brilliant example of editing in the history of cinema. No, Sonny does play a role in this film, but it’s in a spiritual sense only. Vincent is definitely struggling to get to know his father and run the family the way he feels Sonny would like him too and he’s constantly struggling with that.”
Does this mean he’ll have a big temper like his father?
“Possibly. I would say that this is probably going to be the most violent film of the series, but that is only because the modern day of the mafia dictates that. It was a flashy and violent time. People were killed on a whim. The heads of the families didn’t hold meetings like they did in Part I to settle their differences. They’d rather just have you killed. That isn’t to say that there are going to be dead bodies everywhere, but I would say that this film has the most action in it. And when I say action I don’t mean car chases and shootouts. I just mean plot development. This film definitely moves faster than the others, but still hold true to what makes a film feel like a Godfather film.”
You talk a lot about the “modern day of the mafia.” So is this film going to feel a lot like The Sopranos or GoodFellas?
“God, I hope not. Not because either of those examples aren’t good works of art, because they are, but because The Godfather films were always unique. They worked differently than most other mob movies. They always existed on a different level. They were more about the strategies, the mystery of who was plotting against the family, more than killing people. There are definitely traits native to The Godfather films that don’t exist in other mafia films, and I worked hard with the writers to make sure that that was present in this script.”
So who are these other writers you mention?
“This is going to sound cheesy, but I actually called some of the people from the Gangster BB board and they helped me with the script. I’ve always been a forest see-er. I can see the big picture of things, but not the small details, the little things that make the big picture work. The people on Gangter BB are definitely tree see-ers. They are some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met. There’s a guy who calls himself Turnbull on the message boards who is just a wealth of information. The script is definitely better because I worked with them. Then we had David Koepp and Paul Haggis look the script over just to make sure it made sense and they liked it a lot. They added some great little touches here and there that really make the script feel like a Godfather film.”
So what would you say to the most skeptical Godfather fan out there, who doesn’t want to see this film get made?
“Who, AppleOnYa? Inside joke there. Anyway, I would tell them, just give it a chance. This is a Godfather film in every sense of the word. I know people are worried after Part III was a disappointment, even though I still enjoyed it. That said, I think this is a better film, so for those people that are worried about the series going down the drain, I think we’ve come back up from Part III and made an improvement on the series.”
Do you see anymore Godfather films down the pipeline?
“After Part III had pretty much wrapped up things, it was struggle enough to milk a story from the Corleone universe for Part IV. There just aren’t many familiar characters left anymore. I still think we put together an excellent ending to the series, especially in regards to the Corleone family, not just Michael, because his story really ended in Part III. But I still felt there were some things to be said in Part IV. But after this, I don’t think there is anything else to be said. Of course you can always tell stories in this universe, the way that Star Wars has done, but they just come off as mob films, no matter where you place them, in the Godfather universe, or in their own. So I think this is gonna be it. I’m just excited to be a part of it. It’s really a dream come true, and yes, an offer I can’t refuse.”
Jester looks out the window and finishes his beer as the Staten Island Ferry slowly coasts through the dark blue water. Just when I’m about to excuse myself, Jester turns and smiles, “It’s personal with me and these films. Not business.”
