The Godfather Part IV

If you've been having withdrawal symptoms from a certain Italian family since 1990 and suffering heavy nostalgia pangs for elaborate celebrations done Corleone style, teeming with corrupt politicians, a crooning singer or two and lots and lots of pasta, you might be in luck. For it's been let slip that some canny individual at publishers Random House is on the look out for the next Godfather instalment. After securing what must have been a settlement of gargantuan proportions with the estate of original author, Mario Puzo, Vice President and Senior Editor of publishers Random House, Jonathan Karp, apparently sent e-mails to select literary agents last week in a hunt to find a brave scribe to write the next slice of Mafioso life. But that was not, of course, before he had already promised Paramount Pictures first look at the tale for silver screen treatment. "We hope Paramount or some other studio will want to buy the movie rights, and it is our intention to see that happen," Karp commented. But before your hackles rise as you hiss through bared teeth that no one should even dare touch this adored classic in such a cynical money-making enterprise, Karp insisted, "These characters just keep pulling you back in. There is enormous continuing interest in the Corleone family, and a great opportunity to tell a story that could take place before, during or after the original book. Mario once told me he wished he had done more with Sonny Corleone's character, and there was certainly more opportunity to explore the singer Johnny Fontaine." The fact that the original book sold 22 million copies and spawned a film trilogy worth millions might, Empire Online suspects, also have something to do with it.