The estate of Mario Puzo, author of the original novels and screenplay for The Godfather film trilogy, has settled a $1 million dollar lawsuit with Paramount Pictures over revenues derived from Electronic Arts’ video game adaptations.
The estate of author Mario Puzo, who wrote the original novels and co-authored the screenplay for The Godfather trilogy of movies, has settled a $1 million dollar lawsuit with Paramount Pictures, over revenues derived from EA’s video game adaptations. The lawsuit filed last June demanded at least $1 million damages, citing a deal agreed in 1992 which gave Puzo a share of revenues from any audio-visual products connected with the movies. The deal was apparently made as compensation for his abnormally low fee for writing the original scripts. Although the case has been settled out of court, financial details have not been released, and it is unclear whether Puzo’s children received the full $1 million. "We think it's a terrific settlement," quoted an AFP news report of estate attorney, Bert Fields. "This involved one of the most admired films of all time." Since the lawsuit was filed, new details have emerged of a second use of the license by EA, although the new game is only loosely based on the movie narratives. The Godfather II was recently pushed back from a February release into the second half of 2009.
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