The Godfather Part III , the final part of the famous crime trilogy, is being restored and given a different ending. The result should be in theaters in December, director Francis Ford Coppola tells Variety on Thursday .
The new version will be titled Mario Puzo’s The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone . According to Coppola, that’s the title he and writer Mario Puzo originally envisioned.
81-year-old Coppola says he has adjusted both the beginning and the end of the closing film. In addition, a number of scenes and shots will be re-edited. “With these changes, combined with restored material and sound, this is a more appropriate ending for me after The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, ” said Coppola.
A 4K scan of the original film negative was made for the restoration. That happened earlier with Coppola’s Apocalypse Now .
The Godfather films are based on Puzo’s crime novel of the same name, which was released in the Netherlands as De Godfather . The third film was released in 1990 and was less critically acclaimed than its two predecessors. Despite this, the crime drama was nominated for seven Oscars.