Leave the gun, take the cannoli, and see “The Godfather” in 4K later this year.
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s award-winning film “The Godfather,” Paramount Pictures announced that the acclaimed film will have a limited release theater run this year.
Starting on Feb. 25, the film will run exclusively Dolby Cinema at AMC Theatres in the U.S. and internationally. All three films in “The Godfather” trilogy were also restored under the direction of Coppola and will be made available on 4K Ultra HD for the first time ever on March 22, 2022.
Under Coppola’s direction, the Paramount team spent thousands of hours making sure that each frame was meticulously elevated while maintaining the original look and feel of the films. Hours were spent finding the best possible resolution, repairing rips, stains and tears in the film, and color correcting.
“We felt privileged to restore these films and a little in awe every day we worked on them,” said Andrea Kalas, senior vice president, Paramount Archives. “We were able to witness first-hand how the brilliant cinematography, score, production design, costume design, editing, performances, and, of course, screenwriting and direction became famously more than the sum of their parts. It was our commitment to honor all of the filmmakers’ exceptional work.”
The restored films will be released together with HDR-10 on 4K Ultra HD Digital and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray™ for the first time ever. The set will include physical and digital copies of “The Godfather,” “The Godfather: Part II,” and Coppola’s recently re-edited version of the final film, “Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone,” as well as commentaries by Coppola.
Additionally, a 4K Ultra HD Limited Collector’s Edition will also be released that will be wrapped in deluxe packaging and includes a hardcover coffee table book with stunning photographs as well as portrait art prints on archival paper. Both versions of film release sets will have lots of bonus content available including a featurette about the preservation process, tons of photos by acclaimed photographer Steve Schapiro, an introduction to “The Godfather” by Coppola himself, home movie footage, and comparisons of the new restoration to earlier versions of the films.
“I am very proud of ‘The Godfather,’ which certainly defined the first third of my creative life,” said Coppola. “With this 50th anniversary tribute, I’m especially proud ‘Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone’ is included, as it captures Mario and my original vision in definitively concluding our epic trilogy. 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.”
