After filming the wedding scene, Pacino and Keaton returned to Manhattan and got drunk, certain the production was doomed. Paramount executives were openly questioning Pacino's casting and contemplating his dismissal, believing his performance lacked intensity. Pacino's outlook and the studio's shifted after he shot the Italian restaurant sequence where Michael murders Sollozzo and McCluskey.
The raw power of Pacino's performance in the restaurant scene persuaded the studio to retain him. The Godfather elevated Pacino to Hollywood legend status and secured him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The film is number one on Rotten Tomatoes as of 2026, occupies second place on IMDb's Top 250 list, and the American Film Institute has placed it as the second-greatest American film, second only to Citizen Kane.
Al Pacino initially believed The Godfather would be the 'worst movie ever made' and feared it would destroy his career.