The Godfather

The Godfather 3 could have been saved from a lot of criticism had Winona Ryder stayed to play Mary Corleone, the role Sofia Coppola ended up playing.

[The Godfather III also went through various issues](https://screenrant.com/godfather-3-movie-badly-regarded-reasons/) behind the scenes, with Coppola admitting that he fired some of his people, including Roos and producer Gray Frederickson, and production running over budget by a lot more than he imagined. According to [EW](https://ew.com/article/1991/01/25/storm-over-sofia-coppola/), Coppola waited for Ryder to finish filming the comedy-drama Mermaids and join the production of The Godfather III. Ryder had one day before she was scheduled to start filming, and according to [Vanity Fair](https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/1990/6/under-the-gun), she spent that day “being fitted and coiffed for the shoot”. [Production for The Godfather III began in 1989](https://screenrant.com/godfather-part-3-delay-so-long-why/), and by then, Winona Ryder was already an acclaimed young actress thanks to her roles in [Beetlejuice](https://screenrant.com/tag/beetlejuice), Heathers, and Great Balls of Fire!. [The Godfather III](https://screenrant.com/tag/the-godfather-part-iii/) got a positive reception, it didn’t live up to the quality of its predecessors, and one of its most criticized elements was unintentionally provoked by Winona Ryder. Sofia Coppola’s performance has been heavily criticized, and it’s often singled out as the worst element of The Godfather III, but this could have been avoided had Winona Ryder not dropped out at the last minute.