Elisabeth Moss Joins Barry Levinson's Film About The Making of THE GODFATHER

Elisabeth Moss has joined the cast of director Barry Levinson’s film about the making of The Godfather. Moss will take on the role of Eleanor Coppola, Francis Ford Coppola’s wife.

Moss joins the previously cast Oscar Isaac as Francis Ford Coppola and Jake Gyllenhaal, who is playing producer Robert Evans. When talking about the casting of Moss, the director said:

“I’ve wanted to work with her for a long time. I couldn’t be more excited about her joining the film.  Every performance of Elisabeth’s is nothing short of exceptional.”

The film is based on a Black List script written by Andrew Farotte that was redeveloped by Levinson, and the film will detail the legendary and wild battles that went into making The Godfather. Levinson says, “Out of the madness of production, and against all odds, a classic film happened.”

While The Godfather is considered to be one of the greatest American films and a symbol of the ’70s auteur era, getting there was no easy task. Coppola was 31 at the time, determined to convince Evans and the studio to allow him to film expensively in New York, set in the time period of a novel which would become a big bestseller. This after the original Mario Puzo script was set in contemporary Kansas City. Among the other debates was the idea to gamble on Marlon Brando, an eclectic character who hadn’t been in a hit film in years, to play mob family patriarch Don Corleone (for which he would win the Best Actor prize), and also Al Pacino as Michael Corleone, a character who slowly evolved from a desire to get far away from the family business to taking it over when it was clear his father would be murdered even after a bungled assassination attempt. Evans, who took the top job after a career as an actor, had pressures all his own, as the studio was in danger of closing up shop. There was also the uneasy discussions with real mobsters who were none too pleased to have their dirty business to be aired in a major studio film.

The story for the film will focus on the clashes between the filmmaker and a studio chief who badly needed a hit. Coppola has given the film project his blessing, and said, “Any movie that Barry Levinson makes about anything, will be interesting and worthwhile!”

Producer Mike Marcus went on to add, “Here was a young man who lived outside the system and every step of the way the system was telling him, ‘You can’t do that.’ But Francis never gave up on his vision and the result speaks for itself.”

I love the crazy behind-the-scenes stories of movies and the story behind The Godfather is a fascinating one, one that will make for a great movie.

Source: Deadline