The Godfather is a trilogy of American crime films directed by Francis Ford Coppola inspired by the 1969 novel of the same name by Italian American author Mario Puzo. The films follow the trials of the fictional Italian American mafia Corleone family whose patriarch, Vito Corleone, rises to be a major figure in American organized crime. His youngest son, Michael Corleone, becomes his successor. The films were distributed by Paramount Pictures and released in 1972, 1974, and 1990. The series achieved success at the box office, with the films earning between $430 and $517 million worldwide.^{[N 2][N 3]} The Godfather and The Godfather Part II are both seen by many as two of the greatest films of all time.^[1] The series is heavily awarded, winning 9 out of 28 total Academy Award nominations.

Coppola stated that he and Puzo had discussed the potential of a fourth installment. The fourth film was intended to be a prequel and a sequel told in a similar narrative to Part II.^[8] They had discussed a potential script seeing Vito Corleone and Sonny gaining the families' political power and racketeering empire during the 1930s; and with Vincent Corleone in the 1980s, haunted by Mary's death, running the family business through a ten-year destructive war and eventually losing the families' business interests, respect and power, seeing one final scene with Michael Corleone before his death, completing the 100-year story of the Corleone family's rise and fall.^[9]

Many actors were rumoured to be cast in the film: Robert De Niro, Andy García and Talia Shire were suggested to be reprising their roles.^[10] Leonardo DiCaprio was discussed as being cast as a young Sonny Corleone.^[11][12][13]

In June 1999, The Hollywood Reporter had reported that a fourth film was in the works with García in the lead role. García has since claimed the film's script was nearly produced,^[9] but following Puzo's death on July 2, Coppola decided to retire the film series indefinitely.^[14] Puzo's contribution to the potential sequel dealt with the Corleone family in the early 1930s, and was eventually expanded into a novel by Ed Falco and released in 2012 as The Family Corleone.^[15] The estate of Puzo had sought to keep Paramount Pictures from producing the film based on The Family Corleone.^[16] Now resolved, Paramount has gained the rights to make more Godfather films.^[17]

Compilations were created by Coppola and editors Barry Malkin and Walter Murch, with two released to home media:

• The Godfather Saga (1977) – 434-minute television miniseries based on the first two films in chronological order and incorporating additional footage that was not included in the theatrical releases (with violence and language toned down for a television audience).
• The Godfather 1902–1959: The Complete Epic (1981) – 386-minute uncensored version of The Godfather Saga that was released directly to video (VHS format).^[54] A 423-minute version aired on HBO in 2016 and was released to streaming services.^[55]
• The Godfather Trilogy: 1901–1980 (1992) – 583-minute uncensored version of The Godfather Saga released directly to video (VHS and LaserDisc formats) encompassing all three films and incorporating additional footage that the Saga and Epic releases had included.

Other box sets were released in DVD and Blu-ray formats:

• The Godfather DVD Collection (2001) – Includes all three films, commentaries, a documentary entitled The Godfather Family: A Look Inside, additional scenes originally contained in The Godfather Saga, a Corleone family tree, and a Godfather timeline.
• The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration (2008) – Includes all three films, commentaries, and a bonus features disc with new content and extras from Paramount's 2001 DVD release. Also included is an interview with David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, discussing the cultural significance of the films.
• The Godfather Trilogy: Omerta Edition (2017) – A special 45th anniversary box set edition produced in the "limited" quantity of 45,000 copies, consisting of the Coppola Restoration versions of all three films on Blu-ray, a bonus feature Blu-ray disc, and various jacket-liner materials including quote cards, word-play magnets, and scene notes ("anatomy of a scene").
• The Godfather Trilogy (2022) – A 50th anniversary Blu-ray box set consisting of The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, and The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, along with old and new bonus materials. The Ultra HD Blu-ray version includes remastered and restored versions of all three films in 4K resolution, plus all three cuts of the third film: the original theatrical cut (previously unreleased on home video), the 1991 director's cut, and the 2020 Coda cut.

A side-scrolling shooter, The Godfather (1991), was the first video game based on the series. The Godfather: The Game (2006) was based on the first film.^[56][57] Duvall, Caan, and Brando supplied voiceovers and their likenesses,^[58] but Pacino did not.^[58] Francis Ford Coppola openly voiced his disapproval of the game.^[59] The Godfather II (2009) was based on the second film. A mobile game, The Godfather: Family Dynasty (2017), was released for iOS and Android devices.