Latest in Mario Puzo

Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this occasional column, two old friends get together and grind their axes, mostly on the movie business. MIKE FLEMING JR: We are seeing a lot of narrative limited series based on ventures where things went wrong — Theranos, WeWork…

A fight between Frank Sinatra and Mario Puzo inspired the upcoming Paramount+ miniseries The Offer, about the making of The Godfather film based on Puzo’s best selling novel. The 10-episode project premieres on April 28. “The only story I knew about the making of The Godfather was that Mario Puzo got into a fight with…

Francis Coppola has long wanted another crack at The Godfather Part III, looking to shorten it in places, and strengthen it in others, and change the title. He has been tinkering with that for awhile, as he re-cut versions of other films including Cotton Club. But he always said he needed Paramount Pictures’ blessing…

Editor's Note: Don Winslow has spent the week writing a series of columns on his adventures in Hollywood for Deadline, even as he navigated the launch of his new William Morrow novella collection Broken with a virtual book tour. The response to these columns — some of the best writing we’ve seen on Deadline — has been …

In Episode 6 of The Bart & Fleming Podcast, Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. share stories about Francis Ford Coppola and the creation of The Godfather films. It comes on the heels of Coppola’s recently released The Godfather Notebook that offers an unprecedented in-depth look at the making of the iconic movie. Listen…

EXCLUSIVE: In a blockbuster TV package that will come to networks shortly looking for a series commitment, The Weinstein Company is behind an adaptation of Omerta with Sylvester Stallone to play the lead role of mob boss Raymonde Aprile, the last great American Don and his anointed successor. The Magnificent Seven‘s An…

The war is over. Paramount Pictures and the estate of The Godfather author Mario Puzo have reached a settlement in their legal battle over new books and movies based on the Mafia classic. On Thursday, lawyers for both sides submitted a brief joint stipulation (read it here) to the U.S. District Court in New York…

The contract that the studio made with author Mario Puzo over The Godfather movies can't be torn up by his estate, a New York judge ruled (read it here) Wednesday. That means Paramount, who released the original Godfather film in 1972 and its subsequent sequels, can make more movies about the Corleone clan if it wants…

Paramount and the estate of Mario Puzo announced in a NYC court today that they've made a deal to allow a new Godfather prequel. Its profits will be put in escrow while they fight over who owns the publishing rights for a book that's already out. The Depression-era The Family Corleone hit bookstores and online…

UPDATE: Paramount has responded to the charges leveled by the estate of The Godfather author Mario Puzo. Said a spokesperson: “Paramount has tremendous respect and admiration for Mario Puzo and his legacy. We are only seeking to adhere to the terms of the deal that were agreed upon by Mr. Puzo himself." EXCLUSIVE…

Paramount says the son of The Godfather author Mario Puzo is tarnishing the legacy of the studio’s films by attempting to publish a new sequel to the original novel. So it’s suing the Puzo estate in U.S. District Court in New York to stop publication of The Family Corleone later this year. The complaint filed late…