"The Godfather: Part II" was unusual, in that it is one of the few cases in movie history where the sequel, to the "The Godfather", which was a masterpiece in it's own right, was arguably better than the first film.

The belated third part of the original trilogy by Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo, while not a stinker, did however carry with it that certain whiff of sequelitis, complete with one of the worst cases of nepotistic casting ever, in the shape of a young Sofia Coppola, who proves that her decision to pursue a career as a director, not an actress, was probably a sound one.

But what are the chances of another sequel, or even two, turning out as solid films. Could they carry on the beloved Mafia saga in style, or would they simply tarnish the memories of some of the greatest works ever put to celluloid?

Filmstalker and Moviehole reports that some film lovers' wet dream, or dank nightmare, depending, looks set to come true.

A Moviehole mole inside Paramount has squeeled and revealed that the studio is going to the mattresses with the novels "The Godfather Returns" and "The Godfather's Revenge", both by author Mark Winegardner, based on the characters created by the late Mario Puzo.

Al Pacino and Marlon Brando
in "The Godfather"

[The] Returns and Revenge films seem to have been ramped up to active -development status – meaning they’ll probably get underway within the next year” a rat within the ranks at the studios, tells Moviehole. “I don’t think the new film is going to be done in Australia [though], no”.

The casting problem with “The Godfather Returns” is that the story is set between “The Godfather” and “The Godfather II” – yep, its been quite a few years since Al Pacino and company gave life to those characters, so it’d be almost impossible to fluke it with CGI – so unless someone can turn back the clock…

“They’ll re-cast naturally”, the studio leak says. “I guess you’ll notice it about as much as Brandon Routh stepping in for Christopher Reeve in Superman [Returns] – a film that was supposedly set between Superman II and Superman III. Difference being here of course, all the characters will probably be recast”.

The second film, “Godfathers Revenge”, will much easier to cast because it’s a “prequel, about how Tommy Hagen came to shack up with the Corleone’s”.

What's the verdict? Giving an old lemon that final squeese, or worthy follow-ups to a classic saga?