HBO Goes Behind-The-Scenes of “Godfather” in New Film

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The following news from Variety should excite many a classic film fan! HBO Films is developing FRANCIS AND THE GODFATHER a scripted movie that chronicles the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 feature adaptation of the novel by Mario Puzo –The Godfather. The work tells the behind-the-scenes story of the film’s creation, from Coppola joining the project to the casting of Al Pacino and Marlon Brando to dealings with the real-life New York mafia.

The concept would truly be awesome I think. Think of the strong casting required to give us Coppola, Brando, Pacino and the rest of the cast and crew of the epic Best Picture winner, not to mention the recreation of sets and scenes. The whole thing reminds me of HBO’s 1999 HBO Films’ RKO 281. It was a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Citizen Kane with Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles. Giving that same treatment to The Godfather excites this writer.   

FRANCIS AND THE GODFATHER is a work penned by Andre Farotte, who doesn’t really have any strong writing credits (look for yourself). That is the only part of this that scares me. It seems Farotte has been working on the script for a couple of years at least as it has been listed as one of those Black List scripts since 2015. Apparently, he is still on revising that screenplay to make it something solid. I only hope he can. This work might not materialize for a while.

HBO must like what it has heard or read so far, though, to drop news of its development. Handling the producing chores are Mike Marcus, Doug Mankoff, and Andrew Spaulding as executive producers. Peter Bart, who as an executive at Paramount first optioned Puzo’s novel and worked closely with Robert Evans and Coppola, will serve as a consultant for the HBO Films’ presentation. Echo Lake Entertainment is producing.

Come on, is this an offer HBO can’t refuse? We eagerly await the answer.