I believe this deserves another thread. These are the letters from Francis Ford Coppola to Richard Castellano after Castellano had set some conditions.
Remark: Richards wife, Ardell, had a deal to work with Coppola. Obviously, she wanted more rights. Additionally, she was furious about how Coppola forced Castellano to gain weight up to 325 pounds, which seriously decreased his health conditions. But the way Ardell describes it in her book and the way Coppola answers, you can tell that Ardell and Richard were unable to communicate.
And: Money wasn't the real reason. Coppola would have made Castellano a millionaire. And his position behind Pacino and Duvall was justified.







Her you find Ardell's book. It's really worth to read, also because she shows how the script changed.

This is good. Basically FFC was telling Castellano that "Look, I'm the director here, not you. I'll work with you as much as I can".

Thanks for posting these, Danito. They're fascinating.

Did anyone else get the impression that FFC hoped to have Brando play the young Vito (references to "the old man" as one of the four major characters in first letter and to DeNiro being hired in the second)? Could that possibly have worked?

VERY, VERY interesting, Danito. You're right, it wasn't about money, it was mostly Prima Donna bullshit.

It looks to me like Castellano (and/or his girlfriend) have to get the lion's share of the blame here. The sad thing is, Castellano did very little as an actor (a high profile one, anyaway) after negotiating himself out of Part II.

A boneheaded move. Kind of reminds me of McLean Stevenson quitting MASH or Shelley Long leaving CHEERS.

The grass is always greener . . .

That reminds me of one of the best Leno lines ever: "David Caruso is leaving 'NYPD Blue' to pursue a career in film. He's being replaced by Jimmy Smits, who left 'LA Law' to pursue a career in film."

I agree...fascintating letters. Thank you VERY MUCH for sharing them.

It is a mystery what he felt he had to gain by asking for these things. Could he have been that sure that the success of GFII depended upon his presence???????????

All said & done...I would love to have been a fly on the wall of the Castellano home on Oscar night, 1975.

Apple

Very interesting. Someone should have done some proof reading. On the 2. Screen approval the word "the" appears twice, at the end of the 3rd sentence and beginning of the 4th. And there's 2 c's in economics. In #6 there are two "will" when I think one of them he may have wanted "you".

The days before word processing, Beth. No Spell Check, and too much of a pain in the ass to fix mistakes!

Another Thank You for the post. Fascinating.

Odd that it mentioned the big four were to be Michael, Hagen, Clemenza, and "the old man", with no mention of Fredo. Is it possible that the Fredo turn (and prominence of the role) only came about after Castellano turned down the offer and caused the need for a rewrite?

Good find, and thanks for posting it, Danito.