Al Pacino thought ‘The Godfather’ was going to be ‘the worst picture ever made.’ It made him and Francis Ford Coppola Hollywood icons and won 3 Oscars.

Al Pacino in 1972’s “The Godfather,” and in 2024. 

“The Godfather” is one of the most iconic movies of all time, but Al Pacino said that he thought it would be “the worst picture ever made.”

The 1972 film was Pacino’s big break. But in his memoir “Sonny Boy,” published last week, the actor wrote that he didn’t have faith in the movie after filming his first scene, which was with Diane Keaton.

“Diane and I spent those first days laughing with each other, having to perform that opening wedding exposition scene from the screen test that we hated so much,” Pacino wrote. “On the basis of just that one scene, we were certain we were in the worst picture ever made, and when we’d finish shooting for the day, we would go back to Manhattan and get drunk.

“Our careers were over, we thought.”

Diane Keaton as Kay Adams and Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in “The Godfather.” 

“The Godfather” went on to become the first modern blockbuster.

It was the highest-grossing film of the year and the highest-grossing film ever at the time, making over $250 million at the box office. It was followed by two critically acclaimed sequels, and influenced directors such as Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorses, as well as films and TV shows such as “The Sopranos.”

Later in the memoir, Pacino wrote that he realized “The Godfather” was in “good hands” after seeing how passionate the director, Francis Ford Coppola, was about it.

Pacino added that executives from Paramount, the studio that made “The Godfather,” almost fired him and Coppola after they saw early footage of it.

“The word was that I was going to be fired, and, likely, so was the director. Not that Francis wasn’t cutting it — I wasn’t. But he was the one responsible for me being in the film,” Pacino wrote, referring to Coppola’s decision to cast him to play the lead character, Michael Corleone.

Francis Ford Coppola at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. 

Pacino wrote that he proved himself to the studio after he filmed Corleone’s revenge scene.

“It was always thought that Francis reorganized the shooting schedule to give the doubters back in Hollywood some incentive to believe in me and keep me in the picture,” Pacino said. “The jury’s out on whether he did that deliberately, and Francis himself has denied that he orchestrated it for my benefit, but he did move up the filming of the Italian restaurant scene, where the untested Michael comes to take his revenge on Sollozzo and McCluskey.”

“The Godfather” was nominated for 11 Oscars, including best supporting actor for Pacino and best director for Coppola. The film won three for: best writing for Coppola and co-author Mario Puzo, best picture, and a best actor for Marlon Brando.

The film’s success cemented Pacino and Coppola as Hollywood legends.