In a recent interview with Esquire, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola revealed that he originally wanted Martin Scorsese to direct “The Godfather II,” but he request was shot down.
“The ending [of “The Godfather”] was clear and Michael [Corleone] has corrupted himself — it was over. So I didn’t understand why they wanted to make another ‘Godfather,’ Coppola explained (it’s not the first time he’s said the other Godfather films were totally superfluous and redundant; he’s been taking this story out for another long walk of late).
“I said, ‘What I will do is help you develop a story. And I’ll find a director and produce it.’ They said, ‘Well, who’s the director?’ And I said, ‘Young guy, Martin Scorsese.’ They said, ‘Absolutely not!’ He was just starting out.”Then studio executive, Robert Evans thought it was a bad idea (look what happened to his career). “Absolutely not! Marty Scorsese is a horrible choice. Over my dead body,” Evans said in the ’70s American cinema renaissance tell-all,”Easy Riders, Raging Bulls,” published in 1998.
Anyone who’s followed Coppola’s career even remotely knows he was never good with money (see having to direct”Jack,” and “Godfather III” to pay the bills, see the foreclosure and mishandling of Zoetrope Studios) and presumably the reason he took the “Godfather II” gig (and later on, why he started a lucrative winery) was to get out of hock.
“I was never sloppy with other people’s money. Only my own. Because I figure, well, you can be,” Coppola told Esquire. [Esquire via Cinematical]
