Travicity
01-20-2011, 10:10 PM
With Paramount celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Tom Sherak hired to take charge, it's natural that Francis Ford Coppola's Godfather trilogy will take center stage. (Gee, could this be one reason why the Academy surprisingly gave Coppola its prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in November? Like, duh!) So why not The Godfather IV? Today the plot took shape as the FBI rounded up 100 mobsters in the biggest Mafia bust in NY history with charges expected to range from gambling to racketeering to murder. Officials said members and associates from all five NY Mafia families -- Gambino, Genovese, Lucchese, Bonanno, Colombo -- as well as New Jersey's DeCavalcante families were among those being arrested. (Did they "Leave the gun, take the cannoli"?) The early morning bust by the FBI, NYPD, NY State Police and U.S. Marshals was so big that the perps had to be held in the jail at the U.S. Army's Fort Hamilton. FBI officials have said organized crime is still active in New York's construction industry as well as labor union corruption, loansharking and gambling. Back in Hollywood, the first Godfather film, based on the Mario Puzo novel, was made in 1972, with Part II in 1974, and Part III in 1990. Over the years rumors of a Godfather 4 have circulated but Coppola, when asked, has said, "There will not be a Godfather IV." But there's plenty of fodder for a new Paramount Mafia-focused franchise with, say, The Sopranos' David Chase (or even ex-Sopranos and now Mad Men creator Matt Weiner) in charge. After all, Paramount boss Brad Grey was executive producer of The Sopranos and remains very close to Chase. Paramount also has a relationship with Marty Scorsese who's still mob-obsessed. The director's projects include The Irishman, an adaptation of the mob memoir I Heard You Paint Houses, which Marty will direct with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci starring. Let's just hope the NYC bust isn't material for another awful CBS Mafia mini-series which Les Moonves makes from time to time.
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