Paramount scored a big win in the case in September when a federal judge in New York dismissed much of the counterclaims, finding the Puzo estate couldn't cancel the contract, nor can it make a rescission. The judge said that assuming Paramount had an obligation not to interfere with book publishing, the estate had failed to adequately establish this obligation goes to the "essence" of the 1969 agreement.
Those writer contracts were ironclad back then. No way in hell was Paramount losing that one. But I did feel bad for Mario. Getting fleeced on the book to movie rights really stuck with him. His resentment towards both publishers and film companies was never more evident that in the book "The Last Don."
