I was interested in the idea of succession - showing a father and a son both in their own time and drawing a contrast

Everyone knows the phenomenon of trying to hold your breath underwater - how at first it's alright and you can handle it, and then as it gets closer and closer to the time when you must breathe, how urgent the need becomes, the lust and the hunger to breathe. And then the panic sets in when you begin to think that you won't be able to breathe - and finally, when you take in air and the anxiety subsides...that's what it's like to be a vampire and need blood.

The time a movie is made is unique, not only from the talent that is available but if the public was ready for it.

I was raised as a Catholic, but I didn't like the Catholic Church at all. I thought the nuns were mean.

It's ironic that at age 32, at probably the greatest moment of my career, with The Godfather having such an enormous success, I wasn't even aware of it, because I was somewhere else under the deadline again.

Sequels are not done for the audience or cinema or the filmmakers. It's for the distributor. The film becomes a brand.

As long as I can make lots of money in other businesses, I'll continue to subsidize my own work.