Paramount Puts Out a Hit on New “Godfather” Prequel

Make them an offer they can refuse

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but Hollywood?s got a tommy gun. Paramount Pictures, the studio behind ?The Godfather? film franchise is attempting to block a new novel in the famous mafia universe from being published, according to a recent article for the New York Post.

?The Corleone Family,? a novel that predates the events in ?The Godfather,? is to be published later this year by the Puzo estate, that is if Paramount has anything to say. The movie studio bought the copyright for the franchise from Mario Puzo in 1969, which gives them all authority on publishing related content.

In its suit, Paramount states that it?s just trying to preserve the integrity of the franchise and the studio. The studio cites the much-maligned novel ?The Godfather?s Revenge? published by the Puzo estate in 2006:

“Far from properly honoring the legacy of ‘The Godfather,’ the unauthorized ‘The Godfather’s Revenge’ tarnished it, and in the process, also misled consumers into believing that ‘The Godfather’s Revenge’ was authorized by Paramount…?

This suit isn?t the first instance in which the Puzo estate and Paramount have traded proverbial bullets. Puzo?s estate actually sued Paramount in 2006 for more than $1 million in profits from the 2006 video game ?The Godfather,? which features voices from two of the movie?s stars: James Caan and Robert Duvall.

Whether or not Paramount are trying to uphold the good name of the series or just want a piece of the pie, this book has about as much a future as a copper in cement shoes.