In 1971, Paramount Pictures invited Sergio Lionel to direct the movie "The Godfather", but Lionel was focusing on the revision of the script of "Once Upon a Time in America", so he declined the invitation gently. But when Leoni finished all the preparations and even contacted Robert De Niro to play the leading role, "The Godfather" has been released, so the producer is no longer as successful as "Once Upon a Time in America", which is very similar in genre to "The Godfather." Confidence, investment plans were therefore stranded.
During the 11 years of waiting for film investment, every year at the Cannes Film Festival Leone would sit at the venue with a script in hand, waiting for investors. It wasn't until 1983 that the producer Aaron Bell recognized Lionel and listened to his three-hour script description, so he decided to invest in the film.
