The Corleone family saga is returning in a new authorized novel, this time told from the point of view of Connie Corleone, the only major female member of the fictional crime dynasty, according to the Associated Press.
Random House announced it had acquired the novel, titled "Connie," written by bestselling author Adriana Trigiani and authorized by the estate of Mario Puzo, whose blockbuster 1969 novel provided the basis for the three Godfather films. The book is scheduled for release in fall 2027.
It will be the third Godfather novel approved by the Puzo estate and the first written by a woman. The character of Connie Corleone was played by Talia Shire, the sister of director Francis Ford Coppola, in all three films.
Trigiani said in a statement: "'Connie' is a novel about how a woman works to forge her own way in a world that's already decided who she is, what she's about, and how she should be treated. People underestimated Don Vito Corleone and Michael Corleone at their peril. The same will be true for Connie Corleone."
The Puzo estate sought out Trigiani after she published an essay on Substack lamenting how little was known about the Corleone women. Anthony Puzo, the author's son and executor of the estate, said in a statement: "We had been looking for someone to retell the story from a new perspective. Adriana was knocked out when I told her that the character of Vito Corleone (played in the films by Brando and De Niro) was actually based on my grandmother. We talked about how the women ran both of our families, but behind the scenes. Adriana's vision for Connie's life blew us all away. I'm very pleased and excit"
Paramount Pictures, which produced the Godfather films, holds the film rights. Additional details about any possible adaptation were not immediately available.
The Godfather franchise has earned more than $400 million worldwide and won nine Academy Awards, two of them to Puzo in the 1970s for best adapted screenplay. Puzo died in 1999, after which his estate entered into a lengthy legal dispute with Paramount over control of the Corleone characters. In 2012, Paramount sued to block publication of Ed Falco's novel "The Family Corleone." After the estate countersued, the two sides reached a settlement that allowed the estate to continue initiating book projects while film rights remained with the studio.
The final film in the original trilogy, "The Godfather Part III," was released in 1990.
