OK, going on the assumption that the Godfather canon includes:

The Godfather (novel)
The Godfather (film)
The Godfather, Part II
The Godfather, Part III

Say FFC made a Part IV without Puzo (obviously). Would you consider it canon?

What if a different director made a Part IV? Canon?

What if FFC made the Returns and Revenge novels into movies? Canon?

What if a different director made Returns and Revenge? Canon?

Basically, is the Godfather canon dead?

Purists would not include the Weingartner books as a part of the Canon, IMHO, so even if FFC made them into movies I do not think they would be included, because the stories arent that compelling.

I don't consider the Weingartner books canon but if FFC wrote and directed a whole new Godfather sequel, I would consider it canon.

I would too, Puzo created a great set of characters and a great story, but FFC was essential in translating that very well onto the big screen. We forget that many books-->movies fall short of expectations and certainly The Godfather did not.

I think if FFC wrote/directed a godfather 4 it would be canon even if based on winegardner's book.

Maybe the whole GF thing has been beat to death.GFIII wasn't as good as II. IV may be even worse than III.A&E has show the GF so many times it become like a TVLand sitcom. I think it may be time to open up this BB to other films. Any interest in the Matt Helm series

I think th canon is dead...that is the story has been told. Addding to it is like those awful Gone With the Wind sequels.

There is still much to work with and to interpret in the original novel and the three films.

Anything beyond that is The Godfather making a parody of itself.

What do you mean by canon?

A "canon" is an officially recognized body of work. For instance, "The works of Shakespeare are a part of the canon of Western literature."

As applied to the Godfather I do not believe anything other than the original novel and the three films form the "canon" of "The Godfather," and these Wiengartner books and other efforts to make a GF IV are not a part of the canon, and they are also an infamnia!

Grazie DT

Prego Miggie!

If FFC has his artistic hands in it, it's canon to me. And that's that.

If a GF IV movie was based in substantial part on the original novel (the 'Happy Years' 1927-1941), and based almost entirely on characters already introduced in fully-accepted canon works (the three films and Puzo's original novel), I would consider it canon.

If FFC produced or directed a new film based on the Winegardner novels I would consider it 'semi-canon,' but I cannot believe he would do so, since the main point of the Winegardner novels is to marginalize (or write out) the characters created by FFC and Puzo in favor of the Nick Geraci Comedy Show.

I would be astonished, if FFC elected to be involved in any new GF production, he would not order a new script based entirely on the characters originated by himself and Puzo.

If Winegardner can sell a Nick Geraci movie, more power to him. But it has little or nothing to do with "The Godfather."