The Godfather was released 50 years back from today. The series achieved tremendous success at the box office, earning between $430-$517 million worldwide. It won nine out of twenty-eight Academy Awards.
The movie is based on Mario Puzo’s best-selling novel Godfather who has also co-written the script with Francis Ford Coppola. Coppola has directed this evergreen movie that still thrives in the minds of its fans. Let’s talk about the budget of this iconic movie.
Witness the saga of the Corleone family for the first time in 4K Ultra HD. Celebrate the 50th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece The Godfather in select theatres February 25 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray & Digital March 22. #TheGodfather50 🌹 https://t.co/E3HEcxUS22 pic.twitter.com/mdxeJOybJ6
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The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather’s initial budget was set at $2.5 million. But then, Mario Puzo’s book became extremely popular among readers. Therefore, it was Coppola who argued and ultimately received a larger budget for the movie. The budget and box office gross are as under:
Budget: $6.7-7.2 million
The Box-office Gross is as under
US $ Canada:$134,966,411
Other Territories:$111,154,563
Worldwide:$246,120,947-$287,258,196
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The Godfather Part 2 (1974)
The Godfather Part 2 was released in 1974 following the huge box-office success of the original Godfather. The film is both sequel and pre-sequel to The Godfather. This part revolves around Michael Corleone, the new don of the Carleone family.
The Godfather II also became a huge success just like its original part. Have a look at the budget and box office earning of The Godfather II.
Budget: $13 million
The box office earnings:
US & Canada: $47,834,595
Other Territories: $45,434,594
Worldwide: $93,270,189
The Godfather part 3 (1990)
Francis Coppola had wrapped up The Godfather saga in the first two parts and was barely interested in making the third part. He declined multiple requests from Paramount who is the distributor of The Godfather series.
However, Francis had to accept the offer following the financial trouble caused by the critical failure of his One From the Heart (1982). He considers it as an epilogue to the first two parts.
The Godfather 3 completes the story of Michael who is trying to legitimize the empire. It also shows the rise of Sonny’s illegitimate son Vincent Corleone as Michael’s successor. It also includes the real-life Pal banking scandal and death of Pope John Paul I linking it with Michael Corleone. Here are the budget and box office earnings of the third part:
Budget: $54 million
The box office earnings:
US & Canada: $66,666,062
Other Territories: $70,100,000
Worldwide: $136,766,062
Re-release figures
The Godfather, 1972 sought post-release earnings of around $430-$570 million worldwide. Let us look at the figures from its first premiere to its to its re-release.
| Release Group | Rollout | Markets | Domestic | International | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original Release | March 15, 1972 | Domestic | $133,698,921 | $110,163,857 | $243,862,778 |
| 1997 Re-release | March 21, 1997 | Domestic | $1,267,490 | – | $1,267,490 |
| 2009 Re-release | September 25-May 27, 2010 | EMEA, APAC | NIL | $121,323 | $121,323 |
| 2011 Re-release | November 24, 2011-February 8, 2013 | LATAM | NIL | $818,333 | $818,333 |
| 2014 Re-release | July 19, 2014 | Brazil | NIL | $29,349 | $29,349 |
| 2017 Re-release | June 4, 2017 | Domestic | NIL | NIL | NIL |
| 2018 Re-release | September 21, 2018 | United Kingdom | NIL | $21,701 | $21,701 |
| 2022 Re-release | February 24-March 4, 2022 | 10 markets | $1,199,963 | $2,800,000 | $3,999,963 |
| 2020 Re-release | APAC | NIL | $4,323 | $4,323 |
Do you know that the video game The Godfather: The Game (2006) is based on the original film. Well, Francis strictly disapproved of the game openly but another video game The Godfather II (2009) was released that was based on its second part. Are you a Godfather fan too? Share your thoughts with me.
