Francis Ford Coppola to Direct New Italian-American Saga

It's about damn time.

For anyone who thought Francis Ford Coppola - arguably one of the top five greatest director's in the past half century - was finished, you obviously thought wrong.

News comes today that the legendary director of The Godfather is going back to his Italian-American heritage for his next, still untitled film.  The story will chronicle an Italian-American family spanning from the 1930 to the 1960s, specifically, a boy and a girl in their late teens.

Coppola his currently at work on the screenplay and has set up shop at, where else, Paramount, who distributed and financed all the Godfather films.  There is no confirmation, however; that this will be the case with the new project.

Since the 1990 release of The Godfather: Part III, Coppola has steered clear of making any mainstream, studio films, instead choosing to do more independent, artsy flicks such as Tetro, Youth Without Youth, and Twixt; all self-financed by the director himself.

I remember reading an article a while back that Coppola always hated working for studios because he felt they diminished the creative freedom a director should always have; case in-point, The Godfather: Part II.  He basically told Paramount to go screw themselves unless they give him total control of the project...and that's why even though The Godfather is a masterpiece, Part II is the better film.

Definitely, more on this project as it becomes available.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter