Data¶
Compiled from the films themselves and cross-checked against public records. Where sources disagree — and for box office they disagree constantly — the range is given rather than a fake-precise number.
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1901–1997. Every dated event across the novel, the films, and the continuation novels, with in-universe and real-world tracks.
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28 Academy nominations, 9 wins, one declined and one rescinded. Plus BAFTAs, Globes, guilds, and the Razzies.
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Original runs, reissues, and inflation-adjusted comparison — with a note on why the 1972 figures can't be pinned down.
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Every on-screen and reported death, who ordered it, who did it, and the ones people miscount.
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Sourced, with AFI rankings — and the famous ones people get wrong flagged.
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Visual breakdowns of the above. No libraries, no external requests.
The numbers everyone asks for¶
| Academy Award nominations, trilogy | 28 competitive across three films (10 + 11 + 7) |
| Academy Award wins | 9 (3 + 6 + 0) |
| Best Picture wins | 2 — the only original/sequel pair ever to do it |
| Actors who won for playing Vito Corleone | 2 — Brando and De Niro; no other character has done this |
| Combined runtime, theatrical trilogy | ~539–542 min — about nine hours |
| Combined runtime with Trilogy 1901–1980 | 583 min — 9 h 43 m |
| Story years covered | 1901–1997 |
| On-screen deaths, trilogy | ~35 named (see Body Count) |
| Weeks The Godfather novel spent on the bestseller list | 67 |
| Copies sold in two years | 9 million+ |
| Price Paramount paid for film rights | $12,500 option against $80,000 — before the book was finished |
Caveats¶
Box office from the 1970s is unreliable. Studios reported rentals (the distributor's share) rather than gross, the two get mixed together in later citations, and The Godfather has been reissued repeatedly. Any single number for the first film is a guess. See Box Office.
Runtimes vary by print and territory. PAL speed-up shortens European releases by about 4%; the 1991 Part III home video cut runs ~8 minutes longer than theatrical. Figures here are US theatrical.
In-universe dates are reconstructed. The films rarely date themselves explicitly, and the novel and the continuation novels sometimes contradict them. The Timeline flags where a date is inferred rather than stated.