Although there is a fourth movie connected toThe Godfathertrilogy, there is a reason that viewers have rarely heard of 1987’sThe Sicilian.The Godfathertrilogyis often listed among the greatest movies of all time, even though director Francis Ford Coppola’s final installment is generally viewed as a letdown. Coppola’s first twoGodfathermovies were so influential and acclaimed that the series as a whole is typically viewed as a vital piece of cinematic history, and evenThe Godfather Part 3is betterthan critics gave the belated sequel credit for upon its original release.
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As such, it might seem surprising thatThe Godfather Part 4never happened. While some cast members were arguably too old to reprise their roles,The Godfatherseries could have spawned spinoffs, prequels, and other follow-ups given the franchise’s popularity. The franchise was based on author Mario Puzo’sThe Godfathernovel series and, as well as the five books in that series, Puzo also authored the booksThe Family,The Fourth K,The Last Don,Fools Die, andOmertà, among others. However, the only other adaptation fromThe Godfathernovels explains why further Puzo projects were few and far between.
Mario Puzo’s The Sicilian Was A Quasi-Sequel To The Godfather
Puzo’s Original Novel Was A Godfather Follow-up
Legendary director Michael Cimino adaptedThe Godfatherauthor Mario Puzo’s novelThe Sicilianin 1987, but a troubled production resulted in a muddled movie that received largely negative reviews upon release. Set between books 6 and 7 ofThe Godfather,The Sicilian’s plot sees Michael Corleone help the real-life Italian brigand Salvatore Giuliano escape Italy for America. The novel and its movie adaptation concern themselves with Giuliano’s rise to power in the world of organized crime and his doomed fight for Sicilian independence. A larger-than-life “Bandit,” Giuliano was infamous throughout the 1940s for his role in the black market and Sicilian politics.
The Sicilian follows Salvatore Giuliano’s rise to power and his attempts to oust his backer, Joss Ackland’s Mafia Don Masino Croce.
Since the character’s rights were owned by other producers, Cimino’s movie excised any mention ofThe Godfather’s Don Corleoneand other characters from the trilogy when adaptingThe Sicilian.Highlanderstar Christopher Lambert played Salvatore Giuliano inThe Sicilianwhich, outside the decision to drop its connections toThe Godfather, was a relatively faithful adaptation of Puzo’s novel.The Sicilianfollows Giuliano’s rise to power and his attempts to oust his backer, Joss Ackland’s Mafia Don Masino Croce. With a supporting cast including Terence Stamp and John Turturro,The Siciliancould have been a major hit.
The Sicilian Was Adapted Into A Movie Without Any Reference To The Corleone Family
The Sicilian’s Adaptation Excised Its Links To The Earlier Movies
Unfortunately, any hopes ofThe SicilianrivalingThe Godfatherat the box office or with critics evaporated when Cimino came on board as the adaptation’s director. Cimino’sThe Deer Hunteris a masterpiece, but the director had infamously bad luck at the box office. His 1980 magnum opusHeaven’s Gatewas one of thebest Westerns to ever bomb at the box office, and Cimino’s decision to lean into the Western elements ofThe Sicilian’s story didn’t help the troubled movie. Infamously, Cimino also refused to cutThe Sicilian’s runtime down to less than 150 minutes.
This led to a lengthy lawsuit that eventually ended with the producers winning and cutting the adaptation down to a 115-minute runtime without Cimino’s involvement. The result was a critical catastrophe. In his review forThe New York Times, critic Vincent Candy calledThe Sicilian“A garbled synopsis of the Puzo novel,” while Leonard Maltin dubbed the movie a “BOMB.”The Washington Post’s Hal Hinson called the adaptation “Unambiguously atrocious,” whileThe Chicago Sun Times' Roger Ebert gave the movie two thumbs down and called it “An incomprehensible mess.”
The Sicilian’s Critical Reception Didn’t Match The Book’s Success
While Cimino’s mixed history with critics made this reception somewhat unsurprising,The Sicilianearning even worse reviews thanCoppola’s original cut ofThe Godfather Part IIIwas notable considering the novel’s comparatively kind critical reception.The New York TimesdubbedThe Sicilian“Fun and compelling,” although the paper did note that its endless links to Puzo’s original trilogy meant that it might as easily be titled “The Godfather Part IIII.” This provides an insight into what went wrong with Cimino’s movie.
$270,007,394
$57,386,952
The Sicilian
$5,400,000
Even before hiring the infamously erratic director,the producers ofThe Sicilianmade a mistake by trying to sever its connections fromThe Godfathertrilogy. The book takes place as an interquel during the original saga’s epic story and should have been treated like one, as turning it into an unrelated standalone story resulted in a messy, incomplete narrative. Thus,The Godfather’s trilogy unofficial interquel failed precisely becauseThe Sicilianwas an unofficial addition to the franchise’s mythos.
