“This is a terrible movie.” Francis Ford Coppola had many problems filming The Godfather, to the point that “on at least four occasions, he came close to getting fired”
Bringing work on The Godfather to completion was quite a challenge for Francis Ford Coppola, who came close to being fired at least four times.
The Godfather is a cult film, the making of which was not at all easy. In addition to the usual difficulties, new ones were created by a studio that didn’ believe in Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious and expensive project. The director wanted an authentic movie with actors, perhaps not necessarily famous or popular at the time, but suitable for their roles.
To make his vision a reality, he had to fight a battle. This one wasn't easy, as many of Coppola's ideas for The Godfather were disliked and met with several rejections before the filmmaker was able to stake his claim. He told the story during an interview with GQ.
And a lot of my choices were immediately discarded. I wanted Al Pacino to play the character Michael, and they said, “That's ridiculous, no one's ever heard of him.” And I wanted Marlon Brando to be the now famous Don Corleone. And they said, “Oh, he's a lot of trouble and no one's going to see his films anymore.” I wanted to make it in New York, they said, “You can't make it in New York, it's too expensive.” I wanted to make it set in 1945, the way the book was. They said, “It's ridiculous, you can't do it, you can't have it, you can't do it,” and then, "This is a terrible movie."
Coppola didn’t give up. Despite the fact that his ideas were rejected he fought on, wanting to make his own vision of the film he had been working on for a long time a reality. And he succeeded in making the screen adaptation of Mario Puzo's novel the way he wanted. But it was not without risks – by his own ission, Coppola came close to being fired at least four times.
To the point where at least four occasions I came that close to getting fired and then surprise, surprise, it turns out to be this gigantic success. And suddenly I became this famous person, which in itself was also another thing to deal with.
The struggle paid off for him, as The Godfather was a phenomenal success and even became a cult movie, which is still listed among the best and as one of the must-see items for movie fans.
However, it was not without making difficult decisions to get to this point. Taking a cue from Michael Corleone, Francis Ford Coppola fired everyone on his team who lobbied for him to be fired, he told Empire. What was left were only trusted people with whom he could finish work on The Godfather.
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