Although there is a fourth film connected to The godfather trilogy, there's a reason viewers have rarely heard of 1987 The Sicilian. The godfather The trilogy is often listed among the greatest films of all time, although director Francis Ford Coppola's final installment is generally seen as a disappointment. Coppola's first two Godfather the films were so influential and acclaimed that the series as a whole is typically viewed as a vital piece of cinematic history, and even The Godfather Part 3 is better than critics gave the belated sequel credit for upon its original release.
As such, it may seem surprising that The Godfather Part 4 never happened. Although some cast members were too old to reprise their roles, The godfather the series could have spawned spinoffs, prequels, and other sequels, given the franchise's popularity. The franchise was based on the work of author Mario Puzo The godfather series of novels and, in addition to the five books in this series, Puzo is also the author of the books The family, The K Room, The Last Gift, Fools dieand Omertabetween others. However, the only other adaptation of the The godfather novels explains why Puzo's other projects were few and far between.
The Sicilian, by Mario Puzo, was an almost sequel to The Godfather
Puzo's original novel was a sequel to The Godfather
Legendary director Michael Cimino adapted The godfather novel by author Mario Puzo The Sicilian in 1987but a troubled production resulted in a confusing film that received negative reviews upon release. Set between books 6 and 7 of The godfather, The SicilianMichael Corleone's storyline helps real-life Italian bandit Salvatore Giuliano escape from Italy to America. The novel and its film adaptation deal with Giuliano's rise to power in the world of organized crime and his doomed fight for Sicily's independence. A larger than life “Bandit”, Giuliano became famous throughout the 1940s for his role in the black market and Sicilian politics.
The Sicilian follows Salvatore Giuliano's rise to power and his attempts to unseat his supporter, Joss Ackland's mobster Don Masino Croce.
As the rights to the character belonged to other producers, Cimino's film removed any mention of the character. The godfatherDon Corleone and other characters from the trilogy when adapting The Sicilian. Highlander star Christopher Lambert played Salvatore Giuliano in The Sicilian that, apart from the decision to abandon their connections The godfatherwas a relatively faithful adaptation of Puzo's novel. The Sicilian follows Giuliano's rise to power and his attempts to oust his supporter, Joss Ackland's mobster Don Masino Croce. With a supporting cast including Terence Stamp and John Turturro The Sicilian could have been a huge success.
The Sicilian was adapted into a film without any reference to the Corleone family
The adaptation of the Sicilian eliminated its links with the previous films
Unfortunately, any hope of The Sicilian rivaling The godfather at the box office or critics evaporated when Cimino came on board as the adaptation's director. Cimino's The Deer Hunter is a masterpiece, but the director had infamously bad luck at the box office. His 1980 masterpiece Heaven's Gate was one of the best Westerns to ever fail at the box office, and Cimino's decision to lean on the Western elements of The SicilianThe story didn't help the troubled film. Infamously, Cimino also refused to cut The SicilianThe running time dropped to less than 150 minutes.
This led to a long process that ended with the producers winning and shortening the adaptation to 115 minutes without Cimino's involvement. The result was a critical catastrophe. In his critique of The New York Timescritic Vincent Candy called The Sicilian “A distorted synopsis of the novel Puzo”, while Leonard Maltin dubbed the film “PUMP.” The Washington PostHal Hinson called the adaptation “Unequivocally atrocious,” while Chicago Sun Times'Roger Ebert gave the film two thumbs down and called it “An incomprehensible mess.”
The Sicilian was poorly received compared to the Godfather films (but the book wasn't)
The critical reception of the Sicilian did not correspond to the success of the book
Although Cimino's mixed history with critics made this reception unsurprising, The Sicilian receiving even worse reviews than Coppola's original version The Godfather Part III was notable considering the novel's comparatively gentle critical reception. The New York Times dubbed The Sicilian “Entertaining and engaging,” although the paper noted that its endless ties to Puzo's original trilogy meant it could easily be titled “The Godfather Part III.” This provides some insight into what went wrong with Cimino's film.
|
Film |
Total Box Office |
|---|---|
|
The godfather |
US$270,007,394 |
|
The Godfather: Part II |
US$57,386,952 |
|
The Sicilian |
$5,400,000 |
Even before hiring the notoriously erratic director, the producers of The Sicilian made a mistake by trying to cut your power connections. The godfather trilogy. The book is set as an interquel during the epic story of the original saga and should have been treated as such, as turning it into an unrelated standalone story resulted in a confusing and incomplete narrative. That's why, The godfatherThe unofficial interquel to the trilogy failed precisely because The Sicilian was an unofficial addition to the franchise's mythos.
Sources: The Washington Post
Chicago Sun Times (Via RogerEbert.com)