Why Francis Ford Coppola Wanted Martin Scorsese to Direct ‘The Godfather Part II’ and Why He Didn’t

The Godfather raised the bar for cinematic epics and heralded the arrival of several generation-defining talents in front of and behind the camera. Among the Hollywood heavyweights to emerge from the classic was Francis Ford Coppola who, alongside Mario Puzo, won an Oscar for writing the film’s adapted screenplay. Upon the three-hour epic‘s critical and box office success, it was perhaps inevitable that a sequel would be made. As it turns out, Coppola was resistant to the idea of returning to the ruthless world of the mafia despite consistent pressure from Paramount Pictures, and recommended a relatively unknown up-and-coming filmmaker to helm the highly anticipated follow-up to what’s widely considered one of the greatest movies ever made.

Why Didn’t Francis Ford Coppola Want to Make ‘The Godfather Part II’?

Given the behind-the-scenes drama Francis Ford Coppola’s endured while making The Godfather, it’s no surprise he wasn’t interested in directing a sequel. “I was always just trying to bluff the studio to let me, you know, do it my way,” he said of his fraught relationship with Paramount Pictures. “And it was just the most frightening and depressing experience I think I’ve ever had.” Coppola frequently clashed with Paramount over creative differences, with decisions over the film’s 1940s setting, principal cast, and shooting locations serving as sources of tension and disagreement.

As Paramount’s head of production, Robert Evans proved particularly combative towards Coppola, often second-guessing the filmmaker’s instincts. “I didn’t get along with Bob Evans during The Godfather, at all,” he said in 2019. “I was seriously on the verge of getting fired maybe on three or four occasions.” Upon the film’s 1972 release, however, Coppola became a household name and balked at the prospect of making a sequel. While he’d ultimately reconsider — striking a favorable deal with Paramount that gave him unprecedented creative control — he initially hoped to enlist the efforts of a fellow Italian-American filmmaker to direct The Godfather Part II.

Francis Ford Coppola Wanted Martin Scorsese to Direct ‘The Godfather Part II’

After the success of The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola was in a well-deserved position to negotiate. With Paramount Pictures hoping to get him on board for a sequel that he didn’t want to direct, he compromised by offering to co-write a screenplay with Mario Puzo as long as he didn’t have to step behind the camera. “I’ll help produce it and I will choose a young director that I think would be great and you could have what you want,” he told the studio.

Meanwhile, Martin Scorsese was making a name for himself as a filmmaker whose semi-autobiographical third feature, 1973’s Mean Streets, explored the gritty underbelly of low-level organized crime in New York City. Regarding Scorsese as “a fabulous talent,” Coppola suggested he direct The Godfather Part II, but Paramount immediately dismissed the idea as “outrageous.” While the studio’s rejection didn’t sit well with Coppola, he eventually relented and agreed to co-write and direct the film under specific conditions. For Scorsese’s part, failing to secure the director’s chair on The Godfather Part II may have seemed like a missed opportunity at the time, but he harbors no hard feelings over Paramount’s snubbing decades after the fact.

Martin Scorsese Is Glad He Didn’t Direct ‘The Godfather Part II’

After making an impression with Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese returned to organized crime with Goodfellas, Casino, and The Departed, cementing his reputation as one of the genre’s premier talents. But in 1973, the young and relatively inexperienced filmmaker didn’t, according to his own admission, possess the maturity and storytelling sensibilities necessary to tackle an undertaking as ambitious as The Godfather Part II. “I still had this kind of edgy thing, the wild kid running around,” he said in an interview with Deadline.

Scorsese also conceded that his firsthand accounts of growing up near organized crime contrasted with the large-scale nature of Coppola’s film, citing his unfamiliarity with high-level criminality as a factor. “What I saw around me wasn’t guys in a boardroom or sitting around a big table talking,” he said. “That took another artistic level that Francis had at that point. I was more street-level.” Fortunately, the combined wisdom of Paramount Pictures, Coppola, and Scorsese paid off in droves, delivering what’s arguably the greatest sequel ever made and, in its own right, an unparalleled tale of family, betrayal, and revenge.

The Godfather Part II is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Watch on Paramount+