Editing The Godfather (novel) (section)

==Film adaptation==
{{Main|The Godfather}}

The 1972 film adaptation of the novel was released with [[Marlon Brando]] as Don Vito Corleone and [[Al Pacino]] as Michael Corleone, directed by [[Francis Ford Coppola]]. Mario Puzo assisted with both the writing of the screenplay and other production tasks. The film grossed approximately $269 million worldwide and won various awards, including three [[Academy Awards]], five [[Golden Globe]]s and one [[Grammy]]. The film is considered to be tremendously significant in cinematic history. The sequel, ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'' won six [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]s, and became the first sequel to win the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].

The film's plot follows the novel except for such details as backstories of some characters that are excluded, although they were filmed. Some of this footage was included in later re-edited versions such as, "[[The Godfather Saga]]." The subplot involving Johnny Fontane in Hollywood was not filmed. The most significant deviation of the film from the novel was that the latter had a more positive ending than the film in which Kay Corleone accepts Michael's decision to take over his father's business. The film ends with Kay's realization of Michael's callousness, a theme that would develop in the [[The Godfather Part II|second]] and [[The Godfather Part III|third]] films, which are largely not based on the original novel. Vito Corleone's backstory appeared in the second film, with his character portrayed by [[Robert De Niro]].