Mario Puzo’s Kids Say Paramount Cheated On ‘Godfather’ Game

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Mario Puzo's estate claims Paramount Pictures owes it more than $1 million from a "Godfather" video game. After the movie and its sequels became tremendous hits, Puzo and Paramount agreed to share revenue for "audio-visual products" tied to the Godfather movies. Paramount is welshing on that deal, the Puzos claim in Superior Court.

Puzo's children say Paramount bought the rights to the first "Godfather" movie "for an extremely low price" because Puzo was relatively unknown. After the movie and its sequels became tremendous hits, Puzo and Paramount settled a 1992 dispute over fees by agreeing to share revenue for "audio-visual products."

The Puzo estate claims that the author and Paramount settled their 1992 dispute over fees by "entering into an agreement pursuant to which Puzo was to receive a significant share in the revenue of audio-visual products to be sold or rented to the public embodying elements of the 'Godfather' pictures."

"Puzo died in 1999, leaving his estate essentially to his children. Paramount has licensed to others the rights to manufacture and distribute an audio-visual game embodying elements of 'The Godfather' motion pictures, which were intended to be sold or rented to the public. Despite the vast wealth Puzo created for Paramount, it has refused to pay his children their agreed share of the revenue from that audio-visual product. This action is to redress that breach of contract."

The Puzos are represented by Bert Fields, with Greenberg Glusker Fields.

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