Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Whacked: “The Godfather” 45th Anniversary Gala at Radio City Set for Same Night as White House Correspondents Dinner

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There are already so many reasons to avoid this year’s White House Correspondent’s Dinner on Saturday, April 29th.

But now comes the piece de resistance: a 45th anniversary gala screening of “The Godfather” Parts 1 &2 at Radio City Music Hall to close the Tribeca Film Festival. And everyone’s coming: director Francis Ford Coppola, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, James Caan, Diane Keaton, Talia Shire, and Robert Duvall– everyone except Marlon Brando and Mario Puzo. And they’d be there if they could.

Expect former Paramount honchos Robert “The Kid Stays in the Picture” Evans and Peter (I Always Mention Paramount” Bart to be on hand if possible. Evans should come even if they bring him on a sedan chair. He’s a rock star in the movie business.

There will be a once in a lifetime Q&A after the two movies are shown. It’s an offer no one can refuse. And it should put a dent into the other big event that night down in DC, the White House Correspondent’s Dinner. Because really, even Donald Trump may try to score tickets to “The Godfather” event since he’s already announced he won’t attend the WHCD.

PS Not uncoincidentally, Tribeca is also showing Eleanor Coppola’s feature film, “Paris Can Wait,” with Alec Baldwin and Diane Lane, which got nice notices from Toronto. Looking forward to seeing this film. This means everyone in the Coppola family has made a film except for the dog and the vintner!

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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