The Godfather Fans Just Got Seriously Cool News
It's a big day for fans of The Godfather and meta-cinema. On September 30, Deadline broke the news that a movie about the making of Francis Ford Coppola's revered masterpiece The Godfather is underway courtesy of Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson. Entitled Francis and The Godfather, the upcoming film explores the tumultuous development of the legendary movie.
That's not where the exciting news ends, either. Two major actors have officially been tapped to star in the film. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Dune star Oscar Isaac is slated to play Francis Ford Coppola, and Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal will co-star as Hollywood super-producer Robert Evans. At the time of this writing, Isaac and Gyllenhaal were the only actors attached to the project. However, with the film's story taking place behind the scenes of The Godfather, major Hollywood actors like Al Pacino, Diane Keaton, and Robert Duvall may show up as characters in Francis and The Godfather. With Isaacs and Gyllenhaal at the top of the bill, don't be surprised if more big names join them to fill out those parts.
A look behind the curtain of one of the great American films of the 20th century is an exciting enough prospect on its own, but the making of The Godfather was also a particularly dramatic Hollywood moment worthy of dramatization.
The chaotic road to making The Godfather
Sometimes works of great art come out of a process marked by turmoil, and by most accounts, The Godfather was one of them. According to Deadline's report on the forthcoming meta-movie, it will focus on the friction between Coppola, Evans, and the studios. Coppola is an auteur who had a singular vision for his film, while Evans was working under intense pressure to produce a commercial hit. Everything from the film's settings and locations to its cast (Marlon Brando was famously not the easiest person to work with) caused conflict, and all of these now-infamous beefs are set to be explored in the film.
Revisiting a turbulent time in your past is rarely easy, but Coppola seems to have embraced the film. Deadline reports the veteran director as saying, "Any movie that Barry Levinson makes about anything, will be interesting and worthwhile!"
With some incredible talent behind and in front of the camera, Francis and The Godfather looks like it may transcend lurid Hollywood gossip and deliver a nuanced portrait of the messy creation of a generation-defining piece of art.