Paramount, the studio behind the Godfather trilogy, and the Mario Puzo estate (read: the relatives of the guy who wrote the original books) have been in a court battle all year over the rights to a new book called The Family Corleone. The book is largely a prequel and Paramount wasn’t happy because it didn’t mix well with the classic film trilogy.

The profits from the book will be put on escrow until the court decides who gets the publishing rights and gets that money. Deadline points out that things could get complicated if the book does well and there’s enough interest for a movie.

I don’t think Paramount would allow that to happen, or even want it to happen. They remember the backlash over Godfather Part III. The book is largely about Vito and Sonny’s relationship and Michael is just a wee little child in the book. The synopsis is below. Do you think there’s room for another Godfather movie? [Deadline via Movies.com]

“New York, 1933. The city and the nation are in the depths of the Great Depression. The crime families of New York have prospered in this time, but with the coming end of Prohibition, a battle is looming that will determine which organizations will rise and which will face a violent end.

For Vito Corleone, nothing is more important that his family’s future. While his youngest children, Michael, Fredo, and Connie, are in school, unaware of their father’s true occupation, and his adopted son Tom Hagen is a college student, he worries most about Sonny, his eldest child. Vito pushes Sonny to be a businessman, but Sonny-17 years-old, impatient and reckless-wants something else: To follow in his father’s footsteps and become a part of the real family business.”

godfather, the family corleone