The Godfather Part III (1990)
- Many of the practical effects used in the climax were achieved without any CGI.
- Francis Ford Coppola originally wanted a completely different ending for the film, but test audiences preferred the one we see today.
- The original script for The Godfather Part III was written over a decade before production finally began in 1990.
The Godfather Part III is a 1990 American crime drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the controversial final chapter of the Godfather trilogy. Al Pacino returns as Michael Corleone, now in his sixties and attempting to legitimize the family's criminal empire by investing in international real estate and the Vatican Bank. Seeking papal endorsement for his financial dealings, Michael is drawn into a conspiracy involving the Vatican, European banking, and organized crime that mirrors the real-life Banco Ambrosiano scandal.
While widely considered inferior to its predecessors, Part III contained several powerful sequences โ particularly Andy Garcia's energetic performance as Vincent Mancini, Michael's nephew and potential heir, and the opera house climax intercut with multiple assassinations. Sofia Coppola's widely criticized performance as Michael's daughter Mary, cast after Winona Ryder dropped out, became the film's most debated element. The final image of an aged, solitary Michael dying alone in a Sicilian courtyard was a devastating coda to the trilogy.
Part III earned $136 million worldwide.
