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FOR THE 30th anniversary of “The Godfather: Part III,” director/screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola has re-edited the final film in his epic Godfather trilogy. The new version, entitled “Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone,” achieves Coppola and screenwriter Puzo’s original vision for the finale, which has been meticulously restored for the finest presentation of the Corleone saga’s last chapter.
The film debuts surprisingly only on Blu-ray and Digital from Paramount Home Entertainment on December 8, 2020. There’s a good chance the digital platform version will be in 4K Ultra HD. That’s not been confirmed. “For this version of the finale, I created a new beginning and ending, and rearranged some scenes, shots, and music cues. With these changes and the restored footage and sound, to me, it is a more appropriate conclusion to ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Godfather: Part II’ and I’m thankful to Jim Gianopulos and Paramount for allowing me to revisit it,” says Coppola. The director and his production company American Zoetrope worked from a 4K scan of the original 35mm negative to undertake a painstaking, frame-by-frame restoration of both the new “Mario Puzo’s THE GODFATHER, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone” and the original “The Godfather: Part III.” In order to create the best presentation possible, Zoetrope and Paramount’s restoration team began by searching for over 50 original takes to replace lower resolution opticals in the original negative. This restoration took more than six months and involved sifting through 300 cartons of negative. American Zoetrope worked diligently to repair scratches, stains, and other anomalies that could not be addressed previously due to technology constraints, while enhancements were made to the original 5.1 audio mix.