Godfather saga set to continue

The bloody saga of the Corleone family has enthralled generations of film fans, and now a new Godfather movie could be on the cards.

Variety says Hollywood studio Paramount will have first crack at the screen rights to a new instalment of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather franchise which is in the planning stages at publishers Random House.

“We hope Paramount or some other studio will want to buy the movie rights, and it is our intention to see that happens,” says Puzo’s former editor Jonathan Karp.

Puzo died three years ago, and Karp has spent months securing a deal with the writer’s estate, which controls the rights to the characters, to draft in someone else to continue the Corleone saga.

Karp says: “These characters just keep pulling you back in. There is enormous continuing interest in the Corleone family, and a great opportunity to tell a story that could take place before, during or after the original book.”

Francis Ford Copolla’s Godfather trilogy is enshrined in film legend. The first two films won an array of Oscars in the early 1970s, including best actor for Marlon Brando in Part I and best supporting actor for Robert de Niro in Part II.