Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in.
Seeing as how Zack Snyder and a cohort of very passionate (that's diplomatic) people successfully lobbied a multi-billion dollar studio into submission and gave them the new cut of a box office bomb they were looking for, it's only right that other studios now follow suit.
Francis Ford Coppola - director of 'Apocalypse Now', 'The Godfather', 'The Conversation', and all-round movie icon - has decided to back and recut one of his most derided efforts and the butt of many jokes in the early '90s - 'The Godfather, Part III'.
As well a brand-new cut, the movie is also being retitled as 'Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone', because who says you can't have catchy titles any more? In a statement, Coppola acknowledged that this was the original and preferred title before it was changed to what we know it as today.
"For this version of the finale, I created a new beginning and ending, and rearranged some scenes, shots, and music cues. With these changes and the restored footage and sound, to me, it is a more appropriate conclusion to 'The Godfather' and 'The Godfather: Part II' and I’m thankful to Jim Gianopulos and Paramount for allowing me to revisit it."
In all seriousness, though, the most appropriate conclusion for 'The Godfather' and 'The Godfather: Part II' was the ending in the second one. Simple as that, really. Michael is all alone, all his enemies are either dead or in prison, and in the process of doing so, has utterly alienated himself from anyone who ever cared about him. Not the two-and-a-half-hours of weird soap opera that tried to pass off Andy Garcia acting like an extra from 'Goodfellas' and Sofia Coppola realising acting isn't her jam on screen.
In fact, you go back and watch the three movies in their current form and it's so apparent how unnecessary the third movie was. Who knows, maybe this new cut will change people's minds?
Probably not. No release date has been set for the new cut as of yet, but it's understood that the movie will receive a run in some cinemas in the US before a home release.