Coppola shared some interesting anecdotes about his career as a writer-director-producer during the Producers Guild's Produced By Conference in Burbank.
The director's many initial films failed to do well at the box office and Coppola said having mixed reaction "is a terrible thing", said the Hollywood Reporter.
The director then described how he finally came onboard to direct and produce 'Godfather', his most famous film till date.
"I didn't want to make The Godfather. I needed the money. It was a job," Coppola said, adding he adapted the book to the screen "slavishly".
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Coppola had set up a scene to be shot on a Monday for the film which involved a reunion of Corleone family members from the first film, celebrating the birthday of the family patriarch.
Over the weekend, he learned that Marlon Brando, dissatisfied with his paycheck on the first outing, had cancelled.
"The producer of me went to the director of me and he said, talk to the writer (again Coppola)."
He then wrote some new pages to justify Corleone's absence in the movie.