The time Godfather part III was a hilarious time-travel comedy

Francis Ford Coppola left the movie theatre shaking his head and smiling in wonder. He’d just seen Back to the Future 2 and he hadn’t been that impressed with a picture since Porky’s.

As he enjoyed his traditional post-movie piece of pie, he played over the picture in his head, chuckling softly at Michael J. Fox’s ability to fall over while putting on a pair of trousers.

He was just putting the plate in the dishwasher when the idea struck him. Possibly the best idea he’d ever had.

He was going to make Godfather part III, and it was going to be a hilarious time-travel comedy caper in homage to Robert Zemeckis and Marty McFly

Not one to waste time, the Apocalypse Now legend worked through the night, and by the morning had worked up a rough story-board for his new film.

“HOO-HAH! It was quite something,” said Al Pacino in in 1989 Wogan interview

“An older, wiser Michael Corleone is at a Huey Lewis and the News concert in 1986 and looks back on his life of crime with regret, so he makes a time machine out of one of his casinos. He travels back into to the events of the first film and tries to set the younger Michael on a straighter path.”

The film would be a departure from the serious themes of family and loyalty that underpin the first two films, but it would feature a series of hilarious comic set-pieces.

An early scene would see Michael from the future hiding out in the bathroom stall next to the one where younger Michael gets the gun, and hilariously silently trying to prevent someone else from entering.

Future Michael was to remove the horse’s head from Jack Woltz’s bed before he wakes, and has to smuggle it back through New York with it stuffed up his sweater

Most hilariously of all, Michael from the future travels to Las Vegas and has to dress up as a rich European Princess to seduce Moe Greene and acquire the deeds to his casino to pass on to the younger Michael who is then able to lead a law-abiding life.

Sadly, Al Pacino’s inability to fall over whilst putting on a pair of trousers with the comic expertise of Michael J. Fox saw the legendary director change his mind and make Godfather pt III into the second-best film about the Catholic church of 1990, after Nuns on the Run.

“I don’t know, man,” continued Pacino.

“Maybe I couldn’t nail the falling over while putting on a pair of pants thing as well as Mike Fox, but I could have worked at it. I think it was an interesting idea.”

It is understood that Francis Ford Coppola still has original storyboards, so there is hope that perhaps the wacky time-travel adventures of Michael Corleone could still see the light of day in Godfather part IV.