Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘The Godfather: Part III’ Re-Edit Gets New Name, Blu-ray and Digital Release

The Godfather Coda Blu-ray Release Date

Paramount Home Entertainment have unveiled plans to bring Francis Ford Coppola’s new edit of The Godfather: Part III to Blu-ray and Digital on December 8th in celebration of the film’s 30th anniversary.

This new edit is has been given the rather lengthy new name of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Whether the removal of Part III from the name is to escape the negative stigma surrounding the film in relation to the previous two efforts is anyone’s best guess.

“For this version of the finale, I created a new beginning and ending, and rearranged some scenes, shots, and music cues,” said Coppola in a press release. “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.”

Painstaking efforts were taken to ensure this is the ultimate presentation of the film.

Coppola and his production company American Zoetrope worked from a 4K scan of the original 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 process 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.

There’s no 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version accompanying the Blu-ray and Digital release. That will most likely come about when the entire Godfather Trilogy makes its 4K debut.

The lone bonus feature is an exclusive introduction by Coppola.

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