Restored version of 'The Godfather' returning to LI theaters for 50th anniversary
Marlon Brando, right, as Don Corleone, in a scene from the 1972 movie "The Godfather." Credit: Paramount Pictures
The Corleone family will return to Long Island theaters next month in a newly restored rerelease of "The Godfather," Francis Ford Coppola’s acclaimed crime drama.
The 50th anniversary edition of the Paramount Pictures classic, which featured Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan as members of the Corleone organized crime family, will premiere Feb. 25 at the AMC Dine-In Huntington Square 12, the AMC Stony Brook 17 and other AMC theaters nationwide.
"I am very proud of ‘The Godfather,’ which certainly defined the first third of my creative life," Coppola, 82, said in a statement. "It’s also gratifying to celebrate this milestone with Paramount alongside the wonderful fans who’ve loved it for decades, younger generations who still find it relevant today, and those who will discover it for the first time."
All three films in the "Godfather" trilogy have been restored under Coppola’s guidance and will be made available on 4K Ultra HD for the first time on March 22. Paramount is calling the restoration a "monumental effort" that unfolded over the course of three years as workers dug through 300 cartons of film to find the best resolution for each frame in the series. More than 4,000 hours were spent fixing stains, tears and other anomalies in the negatives, according to the studio.
Long Islanders have long claimed "The Godfather" as their own. Coppola, a Hofstra University alumnus, wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, a longtime Long Island resident. (Puzo’s novel placed the Corleone family home in Long Beach.) Coppola also filmed several scenes on Long Island, notably the famous "horse-head" shocker, at the Falaise mansion in Sands Point, and Caan’s memorable death scene, at the former Mitchel Air Force Base on the Hempstead Plains.
First released March 24, 1972, "The Godfather" was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, not counting a revoked nomination for Nino Rota’s score, which was ruled too similar to one of his previous works. "The Godfather" ultimately won three, including best picture and best actor for Brando, who famously declined the award.
