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The 2022 Oscars took a moment during Sunday night’s broadcast to pay tribute to the Godfather film series.
Director Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro took the stage at the 94th Academy Awards to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary crime drama.
After Sean “Diddy” Combs introduced the three stars, Coppola, 82, Pacino, 81, and DeNiro, 79, all came together on stage to thank the “legends” who brought the film together years ago.
Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert DeNiro took the stage at the 2022 Academy Awards to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Godfather. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
“I think moments like this should be genuine and brief, and I’m so grateful that my wonderful friends came out here to help me celebrate with you,” the film’s director Coppola said of Pacino and DeNiro .
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA THOUGHT ‘GODFATHER’ WILL BECOME A ‘SPECIAL FAILURE’ RECEIVES WALK OF FAME STAR
“This project that we started 50 years ago with really exceptional people, many of them legends and so many that I can’t take the time to list them all but you know them all well,” he continued.
Coppola went on to pay tribute to Maria Puzo, the author of the Godfather novels, and the late producer Robert Evans.
“So I’ll just give two heartfelt thanks,” he said.
The Godfather premiered in New York City in March 1972. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Coppola concluded his speech with “Thank you. Viva Ukraine!”
The historic film producer recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On March 21, before the introduction, Coppola told Variety that he wasn’t too excited about what The Godfather would eventually become when he made the film.
AL PACINO REFLECTS ON ‘THE GODFATHER’ FAME 50 YEARS LATER: ‘HARD FOR ME TO DEAL’
“I thought it was going to be a particular failure,” said the auteur filmmaker. “When you make a film that goes against the grain of the times, films like this are tough. You don’t do what everyone expects or wants of you.”
The American Zoetrope production honcho also claimed that if it were up to Coppola, he would pass his honor to his pal George Lucas, who is currently starless, telling the publication, “If someone has a star on the Walk of Fame deserves it’s George”, adding, “I’ll give him mine.”
Talia Shire, Francis Ford Coppola and Elle Fanning pose with a star miniature following a ceremony honoring the director with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
“I remember everything that happened so well,” he said of the shooting of the legendary gangster film and its subsequent theatrical release. “You’re always so worried when these movies come out because of these first opinions; you hope things go well, and it’s not in your control. But by far the greatest treasure is the test of time. When people look at what they did 50 years later, that’s an honor in itself.”
Pacino, one of the film’s biggest stars, reflected on the fame that “The Godfather” created for him 50 years later in a recent interview with The New York Times.
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Pacino rose to stardom following his Oscar-nominated role in the 1972 Mafia film, a role he landed after only appearing in one film before, in 1971’s The Panic in Needle Park. However, he was closed a rising star in New York theater and a Tony Award winner at the time.
Though he will always be known as the legend who played Michael Corleone, Pacino said when director Coppola approached him about taking the role, he didn’t take it seriously.
Al Pacino rose to fame after his role as Michael Corleone in the Godfather film series. (Paramount Pictures)
“It just seemed so outrageous. Here I am, talking to someone who I think has freaked out. I said, ‘What train am I on?’ OK. Be nice to the guy. And he wanted me to do it with Michael. I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll go with you.’ I said, ‘Yes, Francis, good.’ You know how they talk to you when you slip? They say, “Yes! Of course! Yes!” But it wasn’t him. It was the truth. And then I got the part,” Pacino said in an interview with The New York Times.
The Godfather premiered in New York on March 15, 1972. All this time later, it’s still the role Pacino is best known for. But he admits his rise to superstardom was neither expected nor intended.
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“It’s hard to explain in today’s world — to explain who I was then and the Flash that it was,” Pacino said. “I felt like a veil was suddenly lifted and all eyes were on me. Of course they were aimed at others in the film. But ‘The Godfather’ gave me a new identity that I found difficult to come to terms with.”
Fox News’ Melissa Roberto and Julius Young contributed to this report.