THE LATEST WORDS: Last updated Tuesday, May 6, 1997 *** *** PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS INFORMATION IS A COMPILATION OF EVENTS FROM 1997! THIS MEANS THAT ALL THIS HAS COME AND GONE. It is preserved here for nostalgic sake. --Geoff http://www.TheGodfatherTrilogy.com/ *** *** The new Widescreen Editions of the GF films have been released! Check the site for more info! I bought the 25th Anniversary GF Collection (Limited Edition, 5000 copies made). I got it at Suncoast Video for $119.99 (reg. $129.99 / $149.95 list). I have copy #1169 -- I should start a registry, everyone send me your numbers! --Geoff P.S. The Big Screen re-release in New York has apparently left its second theater. I don't know if it's playing elsewhere at the moment... *** May 5: GF finally came to GRAND RAPIDS. Went to see it last night and it was wonderful. --Thanks to: Len C. Bigler *** April 19: In NEW YORK, The Godfather continues to play at Sony Tower East, 71st Street And Third Avenue (212) 879-1313 NOTE: It is no longer playing at the Sony Astor Plaza *** April 18: The Godfather will open on April 25 at Hoyts Cinema City in HARTFORD, CT -- a 400 seat theatre, with a screen that is 26 feet wide. --Thanks to: Andrew Rossetti *** April 17: The Godfather is still playing at only one theater in BOSTON, the Harvard Square Sony. It is still going strong with three to four shows daily, but I don't expect it to be around much longer. --Thanks to: Louis Mazzola *** April 10: "Our local news in MILWAUKEE was just advertising that they will be discusssing the re release of GF. Hopefulle that means that the movie will be in Milwaukee soon" --Thanks to: Michael Kaspar *** April 10: "It looks like The Godfather is playing at least one more week at a different theater in MANHATTAN. I got this info from the MovieLink website - www.movielink.com (Thurs. 4/10 is the last day it is playing at the Sony Astor Plaza theater)" Godfather, The (R) Sony Tower East, 71st Street And Third Avenue, New York (212) 879-1313 Friday, 4/11/97: 12:00 - 4:00 - 8:30 - 11:45 --Thanks to: Joe Kondek NOTE: Please call to confirm that it's playing. I have found MovieLink to be wrong sometimes --Geoff *** April 10: "It will be at the Cedar-Lee Theatre in CLEVELAND this coming Friday, April 11th. There was a big ad in the Plain Dealer this past sunday." --Thanks to: John Basso *** April 7: "only played in TORONTO for a little over 1 week, and only in 1 old theatre downtown" --Thanks to: Steven Sotnick *** April 7: opening in SACRAMENTO this coming weekend --Thanks to: David Lundquist *** April 6: opening Friday at the AMC Regency in BRANDON (FL?) *** PHILLY UPDATE (4/4): The Godfather is already gone from Philly after one week! And the theater showing it didn't even get the times correct in the papers --Thanks to: Peter Stone Brown *** Philadelphia has been added to the re-release list for this week, and New York's Astor Plaza showing continues for the third week *** The Godfather has made it down the peninsula from San Francisco and will open at the Camera One in SAN JOSE tonight (4/4) --Thanks to: Rod Eason *** Sent by Harlan Lebo: "The Godfather is opening [April 4th] in 11 more cities. The only two I know for sure are Salt Lake City and Santa Barbara, but I presume that ... the full list will be available on the Paramount web site." *** Re-release info for DALLAS: Northpark General Cinema 1 & 2, Loop 12 and North Central Expressway in Dallas. 972-363-7541 (thanks to Steve Quarrella - dfish@metronet.com) *** The Daily News reports in today's (3/19) issue (page 28, Hot Copy) that Marlon Brando is looking for $100K to join the cast at the premiere of the re-release at San Francisco's Castro Theatre. The article lists the following attendees: Francis Ford Coppola, James Caan, Gianni Russo, Talia Shire and Bob Evans. It also says that Paramount is hoping to restage the famous wedding portrait from the film. (thanks to Richard, HondoMan21@aol.com) *** Re-Release info for Detroit: Main Arts Theatre Main Street at 11 Mile Rd (thanks to Drew Welsh, lwelsh@ili.net) *** The Godfather will be re-released on laser disc at the end of April. It will contain a completely remastered print. The disc will be chapter encoded and letterboxed to preserve the original aspect ratio. The sound will be remastered for stereo and include THX and Dolby Digital (AC-3) processing. Details on supplementary material are unclear, but it may include some interviews. The price is about $50. (thanks to Rod Eason, rod@datatools.com) *** Thursday, March 19 Re-Release info for New York City: Sony Astor Plaza theater 44th & Bdwy 11:30a, 3p, 7p, 10:45p It will play at least from Friday through Thursday She didn't know which film (if any other) was booked for the following week. NOTE: It is no longer playing at the Astor Plaza *** Friday February 21 1:34 PM EDT 'The Godfather' 25th Anniversary Re-Release Highlighted By Digitally Remastered Sound, New Prints Film Masterpiece to Be Showcased in Top Markets, Major Theaters HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Featuring a digitally remastered soundtrack and brand-new prints struck from the original negatives, "The Godfather" is returning to the big screen to mark the anniversary of its debut 25 years ago. Beginning March 21, 1997, Paramount Pictures will be showcasing the Academy Award(R)-winning masterpiece in major movie houses in 20 of the top U.S. and Canadian markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc. New prints and a remixed stereo soundtrack that has been digitally enhanced will give viewers the chance to experience "The Godfather" in a way never possible before. First released in March 1972, the Paramount Pictures presentation established Francis Ford Coppola, then in his early 30s, as a major director and helped launch the careers of Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire and others. With Marlon Brando in the title role, "The Godfather" became a true cultural phenomenon as well as the highest-grossing film up to that time. Based on Mario Puzo's best-selling novel, the film earned 10 Academy Award(R) nominations, winning for best picture (Albert S. Ruddy, producer), best actor (Marlon Brando) and best screenplay adaptation (Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola). The other seven nominations were for best director (Mr. Coppola), best supporting actor (Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall), best costume design (Anna Hill Johnstone), best sound (Bud Grenzbach, Richard Portman, Christopher Newman) and best film editing (William Reynolds, Peter Zinner). Among its other honors, "The Godfather" was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Film Registry in 1990. Overseeing the sound remixing for the film is 0scar(R)-winning film and sound editor Walter Murch, who as post production consultant worked on "The Godfather's" sound when it was first released in 1972. He describes his new work on the film as "taking an AM radio and turning it into an FM radio." Armed with the revolutionary technological advances of the last quarter century, Mr. Murch is digitally remixing the soundtrack and transforming the original monaural sound into stereo. Mr. Murch also handled sound montage and re-recording for "The Godfather, Part II" and was one of the film editors of "The Godfather, Part III," for which he received an Oscar(R) nomination. Preparation of the new prints is being supervised by Paul Haggar, executive vice president of post production for Paramount Pictures' Motion Picture Group. The goal is to produce brand-new 35mm release prints that faithfully capture the look of "The Godfather" when it made its debut 25 years ago. Fortunately, the original negative is in excellent condition, having been carefully stored in climate controlled vaults on the Paramount Pictures studio lot, and it is being retimed scene by scene to create an optimum print. Assisting in the process is Gordon Willis, who was the director of photography on all three "The Godfather" films and who earned an Oscar(R) nomination for the last in the series. His use of light on "The Godfather" influenced a generation of cinematographers, and he is advising Paramount as the studio works to duplicate the stylized color of the original release. The completed print will match the original in length -- 175 minutes. Paramount Pictures presents "The Godfather," an Albert S. Ruddy Production starring Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton. Francis Ford Coppola is the director, and Albert S. Ruddy is the producer of the film. The screenplay is by Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola based on Mario Puzo's novel. The music is scored by Nino Rota. MPAA Rating: R. SOURCE Paramount Pictures *** Saturday February 8, 1997 Paramount's plans are now reality! The Special 25th Anniversary Presentation of The Godfather OPENS MARCH 21, 1997 in these selected cities: San Francisco Houston New York Portland Los Angeles Phoenix Chicago San Diego Boston Minneapolis Washington Toronto Dallas Montreal Seattle Vancouver Denver Miami Atlanta Detroit (Information subject to change) from: http://www.paramount.com/motionpicture/thegodfather/godfather.html *** Monday February 3 8:19 AM EST Paramount is holding a small screening in San Francisco in two months to commemorate the 25th anniversary of "The Godfather," but sources at the studio acknowledge that ambitious plans for a major digital touch-up and re-release were vetoed. Will these decisions be revisited? Reuters/Variety *** Thursday January 30 8:34 AM EST ARCHERD: Paramount Plans Big 'Godfather' Reissue By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Hot on the heels of 20th Century Fox's hot 20th anniversary package of its three Star Wars, Paramount is planning a 25th anniversary celebration for The Godfather. As of now, it's just the first of the trio of pics that will premiere March 20 at the Castro in SanFran (which is Francis Coppola country). However, Paramount is planning a video package of all three, which will be digitally enhanced by current technological perfection. As with the Star Wars premiere, the original "Godfather" cast is (hopefully) being assembled for the big doings. Yes, the studio is "in touch" with Marlon. *** Monday January 27 8:43 AM EST Don, Homer In TV Mini Battle HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The mob will be squaring off against a Greek hero in the May sweeps as CBS is scheduling its six-hour miniseries "The Last Don" against NBC's four-hour miniseries "Homer's Odyssey." CBS said The Last Don, based on the Mario Puzo novel and starring Danny Aiello, will premiere on Sunday May 18, Tuesday May 20 and Wednesday May 21. "Homer's Odyssey," which stars Armand Assante, will premiere on NBC on May 18 and wrap up on May 19. Reuters/Variety ***