“‘The Offer,” a new limited series from Paramount Plus about the making of “The Godfather,” is an excellent and well-made piece of American nostalgia. But as fun as the show is, and it really is, one feels the sense of something lost while watching the story of the creation of this 20th Century masterpiece.
The show embodies a 21st Century Hollywood that is always telling the story of some other story, that is always referencing, almost never charting a new course as Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount Studios did in 1970 with their epic tale of the Corleone Family. They made something new, something that captured the nation, and something that today is hard to imagine.
In 1986, seven of the top 10 grossing movies in America were original stories, these included “Top Gun” and “Crocodile Dundee.” The exceptions were “Star Trek,” “Karate Kid” and “Alien” sequels. Compare that to 2019, when all 10 of the top grossing movies were either sequels or part of an existing franchise. It’s a stark and vital difference.[Read more]
