Al Pacino Says He Agreed to Make the Widely Panned Godfather: Part III Because 'I Was Broke'

Al Pacino is getting candid about his financial reason for signing up to star in The Godfather: Part III.

The third film in Francis Ford Coppola's crime-epic franchise, The Godfather: Part III, was panned by critics and holds a rating on Rotten Tomatoes that, while still considered "fresh" at 66%, pales in comparison to its two classic predecessors.

In his new memoir Sonny Boy, Pacino, 84, opens up about his initial decision to reprise his role of Michael Corleone in 1974's more-well-received The Godfather: Part II, writing, "I struggled with the decision and second-­guessed myself constantly."

"Not so for Part III," he continued of the next film, which wasn't released until 16 years later. "The choice could not have been easier. I was broke. Francis was broke. We both needed the bread."

The Godfather: Part III focuses on Michael’s struggles to free his family from the crime syndicate established by his father, Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando). The rest of the cast included Diane Keaton and Francis' sister Talia Shire, as well as his daughter Sofia Coppola as Michael's daughter Mary.

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Made on a budget of $54 million, The Godfather: Part III grossed $136.9 million in theaters worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Per AFI Catalog, Pacino himself was paid $8 million for the film, plus $50,000 per day for almost a week of reshoots.

Aside from the money, though, Pacino also wrote in his book that he "thought it would be an interesting challenge to try to find Michael some 20 years after the story of the previous film and almost as much time since I had last played him."

The Academy Award winner praised what he felt "was a very good [initial] script" from Francis, 85, and Mario Puzo. "Phenomenal ending," Pacino wrote. "A brilliant callback to the first Godfather, as Michael ends his life with one last lie to Kay (Keaton, 78)."

According to the actor, "The problems started soon after," including cast shake-ups and issues that included Robert Duvall unexpectedly not wanting to do the movie.

"His absence from Part III was a big miss," Pacino wrote. "With so much of the film depending on his character, none of us knew what to do without him. Francis and Mario had to reconstruct the story, but they were brilliant writers and changed the whole script around."

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Winona Ryder, whom Pacino said was supposed to play Mary, was "exhausted and falling apart," according to the actor, leading to Sofia, now 53, to step in.

"[Sofia] was young, just 19; she was not an experienced actress, though we have since found out she’s a very talented director," Pacino wrote. "But the rest of the cast was trying to navigate this at the same time we were absorbing a whole new script for the film."

According to Pacino, "the big criticism of Part III had to do with Michael’s pursuit of redemption," as opposed to continuing to be the character fans knew from the previous films.

"I don’t think the audience wanted to have Michael spend the film seeking forgiveness for his sins. They wanted Michael to continue to be Michael," he wrote. "They wanted the Godfather. That’s what we love about him, right? The guy we saw at the end of Part II was encased in stone."

But from his point of view, "I saw Part III as his effort to break free of that encasement, searching for a way out of his almost traumatized state of numbness," Pacino added.

Sonny Boy, from Penguin Press, is available now wherever books are sold.