Godfather Iii

As television writers hoping to break into features, we offer the following suggestion in response to " 'Godfather III': The Movie Waiting to Happen" (by David T. Friendly, Nov. 24.) 1962. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino--it won't work with anyone else) is having an affair with Marilyn Monroe. The Two Kennedys (Jack Nicholson and Robert Evans) find out and hire Fidel Castro and two future Watergate Cubans to kill Michael. Because of a tragic mix-up due to the language barrier, they mistakenly kill Marilyn.

REGARDING Martin Miller's article on how "The Sopranos" will end ["Will the Guy Catch a Bullet or a Break?" April 1]: He talks about the end of the first two "Godfather" films and then states, "Sorry, 'Godfather III' doesn't count." Doesn't count? So Michael Corleone losing a child and dying alone doesn't count. Is this the same film that three L.A. Times critics listed as one of their Top 10 films of 1990? Is this the same "Godfather III" that was nominated for seven Academy Awards including best picture and best director?

For years, there has been talk of a third installment of the "Godfather" movies that elevated director Francis Coppola to the front ranks of American film makers. Now, with a setback in his planned defense of a $6-million lawsuit filed against him by Canadian financier Jack Singer, Coppola is rumored to be in a commercial mood to write and direct "Godfather III."

Francis Ford Coppola offers commentary you can't refuse on Paramount's super-deluxe "The Godfather DVD Collection" ($75). The five-disc set includes all three "Godfather" epics, plus three hours of bonus goodies. A master filmmaker, Coppola is also a master storyteller in his commentaries, especially with "The Godfather," his 1972 Oscar-winning adaptation of Mario Puzo's best-selling novel. "The Godfather," Coppola stresses, was not a pleasant experience for him.

All the magazine editors who took a leap of faith by featuring stars from "The Godfather, Part III" on their November and December covers can relax. So can the 1,800 theater owners who guaranteed a minimum 12-week run for the movie. Paramount Pictures executives announced today that they will release "Godfather III" on Christmas Day after all.

"The Godfather Part III" surged to the top of the Billboard magazine rental chart, slamming the door closed on "The Doors' " short stay at No. 1. But "Godfather III" may have a brief reign too. As well as Madonna's second-ranked "Truth or Dare"--easily the year's top documentary--is doing, it's not likely to stay in the Top Three, not with heavyweight new releases muscling their way to the top. One is "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"--starring Kevin Costner--which entered at No.

One of the writers of an early story treatment and screenplay for "The Godfather Part III," which Paramount Pictures purchased in 1985, has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking credit for the movie. Nick Marino's suit seeks to overturn a Writers Guild of America arbitration ruling that denied him and his partner, Thomas Lee Wright, credit for the film, which will open in 1,800 theaters on Christmas Day.

After spending $55 million and six months behind the camera, director Francis Ford Coppola will return to Italy to reshoot portions of his upcoming epic, "The Godfather, Part III," according to sources close to the project. The $5 million in reshoots--one week in Sicily in early September, followed by one week in New York, and involving stars Al Pacino and Diane Keaton--will boost the cost of the troubled production to more than $60 million, the sources said.

There were guards at every door and invitations were scrutinized like passports at the Baghdad airport, but Francis Ford Coppola's final cut of "The Godfather, Part III" was finally shown to moviegoers Monday at a sneak preview in Seattle. The audience for "Godfather III," which opens nationally Christmas Day, was recruited by a marketing research company to see a film called "The Cutting Edge."

At the end of "The Godfather Part III," which opens in nearly 2,000 theaters across the country today, Michael Corleone blows his brains out. Scratch that. He dies in a diabetic coma. No wait. He gets shot, then his nephew murders the archbishop . . . . Well, actually, none of the above occurs at the end of Francis Ford Coppola's third entry in the Corleone family saga, but those endings were among many written in the 18 versions of the screenplay during the last two years.

Cinematographer Gordon Willis created a memorable, nostalgic world of subdued light, rich dark tones and muted colors for 1972's "The Godfather," 1974's "The Godfather Part II" and 1990's "The Godfather Part III." But until now, Willis has felt the video and laser editions of the first two classic films--directed by Francis Ford Coppola--were just shadows of their former selves.

"The Godfather Part III" surged to the top of the Billboard magazine rental chart, slamming the door closed on "The Doors' " short stay at No. 1. But "Godfather III" may have a brief reign too. As well as Madonna's second-ranked "Truth or Dare"--easily the year's top documentary--is doing, it's not likely to stay in the Top Three, not with heavyweight new releases muscling their way to the top. One is "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves"--starring Kevin Costner--which entered at No.

This week's recent releases include: "The Godfather Part III" (Paramount, no list price, R). If Francis Ford Coppola's nearly three-hour concluding chapter to the Corleone saga wasn't long enough for you when it played in theaters last year, you'll be happy to learn that the director has restored nine minutes of footage to this video version. A superb cast includes Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and Andy Garcia. "Madonna: Truth or Dare" (LIVE, $92.95, R).

Regarding Easton's remarks that Francis Ford Coppola was in a creative slump for 15 years between the release of "Godfather II" and the making of "Godfather III": If "Apocalypse Now," "One From the Heart," "Rumble Fish," "The Cotton Club" and "Tucker: The Man and His Dream" are examples of his creative slump, we can only hope that Coppola stays in that kind of "slump" for the rest of his life. Many of us still consider him to be the most original and charismatic American filmmaker since Orson Welles, and we don't always judge the success of a film by how much it cost to make or how much it made at the box office.

A best-selling British author is preparing a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures, director Francis Ford Coppola and writer Mario Puzo for an alleged breach of copyright in the film "The Godfather Part III." David Yallop claims that his 1984 book "In God's Name," which alleges that Pope John Paul I was murdered, has been plagiarized by the filmmakers. "I am consulting lawyers both here and in Washington, D.C." Yallop said. "They are considering where best to mount an action.

After 10 years of reading the Calendar Sneaks, I've learned not to take it too seriously. Films that you think are going to be big turn out to be bombs ("The Bonfire of the Vanities") and some films that nobody ever heard of until release ("GoodFellas," "The Grifters") turn out to be near-masterpieces. Only a few pictures fulfill their expectations, no more and no less ("Godfather III"). Reading Sneaks is like reading the astrology column--it's fun but usually the information does you no good at all. MATTHEW OKADA Pasadena

With the war in the Persian Gulf beamed into living rooms, movie-goers didn't rally to watch men at war on the big screen over the four-day holiday, which included Martin Luther King's birthday. "Flight of the Intruder," Paramount Pictures' long-in-production saga about a bombing mission over Hanoi involving an A-6 Intruder had a less-than-victorious opening weekend ticket sales total of about $5.7 million for fifth place.