Mario Puzo's original book sold well, and he produced a body of work that touched on the Mafia. But the man's been gone for over a decade and the final installment of the film series was a flop.
Even so, Hachette has their hands on a never-used screenplay that Mr. Puzo wrote before his passing. Why let good words go to waste?
Ed Falco was brought in, to take that screenplay and turn it into a novel. Scheduled for release in June of 2012, The Family Corleone is supposed to take us back, to reveal the events that pre-dated the original novel.
Wasn't that what The Godfather Part II did?
Naturally, Hachette is expecting to sell through and then some, and they'll trade on the dusty old original to generate fresh buzz.
They're taking a gamble. The sequel to Gone With The Wind didn't fare well, as dedicated Margaret Mitchell fans went on the attack. Will fans of Puzo think the same of the prequel that's on the way?
It's a risk to Mr. Falco as an author, with his reputation at stake, to take on a well-known body of work and create something not quite his own, but not Mario Puzo's either.
That's what publishing is all about, anyway. It's a gamble based on flawed data and hunches that may or may not pan out. Who knows? Maybe we haven't had enough of the Mafia don and his assorted relations, and the public is actually clamoring for more.
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