Mario Puzo’s The Godfather—easily the Gotti: Three Generations of its day—is getting a new prequel, which is typically the sort of story that’s cause for immediate Internet alarm. But somewhat reassuringly, the forthcoming The Family Corleone hails from Puzo himself, who apparently completed a never-produced (so far) screenplay detailing Don Corleone’s rise to power in New York, thus further bridging the gap between Robert De Niro’s young and hungry hustler in The Godfather Part II and the Mafioso kingpin played by Marlon Brando in the original film. When Puzo died in 1999, he left the Family Corleone script in the hands of his estate, which has now given its blessing to a novel adaptation by Ed Falco that’s due out next year through Grand Central Publishing. And unlike most prequels, this one comes in book form, meaning it’s easily ignored if you’d prefer that the mob saga remain untouched. Alternately, you could just lie about having read it.
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