You can imagine it was a big day in the MTV offices when Francis Ford Coppola dropped by. We covered a variety of topics during our lengthy chat with the laid-back director, but perhaps none was more interesting than hearing what happened firsthand with the now-abandoned fourth "Godfather" film.
"I had an idea of how you could do it," Coppola began, revealing that it would have "[paralleled] two stories because it was a big part of the book that had never been made. It was the period sort of between the old period in 'Godfather II' and when you see Marlon Brando in 'The Godfather.' Mario called it the 'happy years' — when we killed them and they didn't kill us."
Just like "Godfather III" was the motivation for Coppola embarking on that project, it was the state of "Godfather" author Mario Puzo's finances that propelled discussion of "IV."
"Mario was very concerned to make money because he was getting older and he really wanted to leave his kids well-fixed," Coppola stated. "I said to Paramount, 'Look it, we have an idea of a structure of this thing. Pay Mario Puzo a million dollars to do this first draft, and I'll help him and work with him. You don't have to pay me anything. But he's getting old, and he's not entirely well.' And they basically didn't do it. And then he died."
While the legendary filmmaker reflected on what could have been, he's also looking forward to what will be. Coppola is currently preparing to shoot the partly semi-autobiographical film "Tetro," revealing to MTV News for the first time that it will be shot entirely in black and white. Click here to read more about the film.
For more of our interview with Francis Ford Coppola, watch the full "Rough Cut" here, or read it here. See him discuss "Grandfather IV" below.
