The Corleone family is being pulled back in, though probably not by the filmmaker most responsible for turning them into American mythology. A new “Godfather” novel, titled “Connie,” is on the way from bestselling author Adriana Trigiani, with Random House planning a fall 2027 release.
The book has been authorized by the estate of Mario Puzo and centers on Connie Corleone, the daughter of Vito Corleone and sister of Michael, played by Talia Shire across Francis Ford Coppola’s trilogy. It is also being positioned as the first “Godfather” story told from a woman’s perspective.
READ MORE: The Essentials: The Films Of Francis Ford Coppola
That alone would be enough to draw attention, but the inevitable Hollywood question is already attached: could “The Godfather” return to the screen? Paramount Pictures, which produced Coppola’s films, holds the film rights to the material, though no movie has been formally announced. The wrinkle, per The Hollywood Reporter, is that Coppola is not expected to return if Paramount does decide to pursue a new adaptation. A representative for the 87-year-old filmmaker told the trade that his involvement would be “unlikely.”
“Connie” will be the third “Godfather” book approved by Puzo’s estate and the first written by a woman. Trigiani, whose books include “The Shoemaker’s Wife,” “Lucia, Lucia,” and “The Queen of the Big Time,” was reportedly sought out by the estate after writing about how little attention had been given to the women of the Corleone family.
The author’s own framing is pointedly direct. “‘Connie’ is a novel about how a woman works to forge her own way in a world that’s already decided who she is, what she’s about, and how she should be treated,” Trigiani said in a statement, adding, “People underestimated Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone at their peril. The same will be true for Connie Corleone.”
The rights situation has its own history. After Puzo died in 1999, his estate and Paramount fought over control of future Corleone stories, including Ed Falco’s “The Family Corleone.” A 2012 settlement allowed the estate to keep initiating new book projects, while Paramount retained film rights, which is why “Connie” immediately lands in the potential-franchise-revival zone even before a script, director, or production plan exists.
Coppola’s “The Godfather” remains one of the defining works of New Hollywood, while “The Godfather Part II” is still routinely held up as one of the rare sequels to match or exceed the original. “The Godfather Part III,” released in 1990 and later recut as “The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone,” has always occupied a more complicated place in the trilogy’s legacy. Together, the films earned nine Academy Awards and more than $400 million worldwide.
For now, the next chapter is a novel, not a movie. But the combination of an authorized Puzo estate book, Paramount’s existing film rights, and a Corleone story centered on Connie makes this the clearest opening in years for Hollywood to revisit “The Godfather”—just probably without Coppola behind the camera.
