Puzo family blasts Paramount with Godfather countersuit

The estate of The Godfather author Mario Puzo is embroiled in duelling lawsuits with Paramount Pictures, the movie studio behind the classic filmversions of his Mafia tale.

In February, Paramount sued the late author's son Anthony Puzo in order to block the publication of a new, upcoming prequel novel inspired by his father's The Godfather.

The Puzo family's case, filed Monday in Manhattan federal court, is a countersuit. It claims Paramount has interfered with a publishing contract the studio struck with the heirs a decade ago and also breached an earlier, 1960s-era agreement with the author.

Mario Puzo began his saga of the Corleone family with the bestselling novel The Godfather in 1969 and continued with The Sicilian in 1984. Though he died in 1999, the novel Omerta was published posthumously in 2000. He and Francis Ford Coppola won a pair of adapted screenplay Oscars for the film adaptations The Godfather and The Godfather, Part II.

The Paramount lawsuit accuses Puzo's heirs of approving two sequel novelsThe Godfather Returns (2004) and The Godfather's Revenge (2006), both penned by Mark Winegardner without first seeking the studio's permission and in violation of an agreement to forgo any new literary sequels.

"Paramount has tremendous respect and admiration for Mario Puzo and his legacy," the movie studio said in a statement.

"We are only seeking to adhere to the terms of the deal that were agreed upon by Mr. Puzo himself."

Meanwhile, the estate's countersuit charges that Paramount'soriginaldeal with Puzo excluded subsequent publication of additional books that featured characters from The Godfather in new or similar situations.

The heirs also allege that their father received only "minimal payment" from Paramount for the rights to The Godfather. So, they are calling on the court to terminate the studio's 1969 deal with Puzo and award the estate more than $10 million US in damages.

"Mario Puzo brought vast wealth to Paramount at a time when they desperately needed it. Now that he's gone, Paramount's trying to deprive his children of the rights he specifically reserved," entertainment lawyer Bert Fields, who is counselling the Puzo family, said in a statement Tuesday.

"I promised Mario I'd protect his kids from this kind of reprehensible conduct."