‘The Offer’ does drama like ‘The Godfather’

NEW YORK » On a trip to New York in the early 1970s, Robert Evans, the former head of Paramount, discovered a dead rat in his hotel room bed. According to the new Paramount+ series “The Offer, “this was not an unfortunate travel experience that today would result in a scathing Yelp review, but a warning from the mafia.

Crime boss Joseph Colombo believed Mario Puzo’s book “The Godfather” was an insult to Italian Americans and did not want Paramount to adapt it for the big screen.

The scene is both horrifying and hilarious as Matthew Goode as Evans hightails it out of town, after ordering the movie’s producer, Al Ruddy (played by Miles Teller), to make it right.

What’s revealed in the 10 episodes of “The Offer,” debuting April 28, is that pressure from the mafia was just one of many hurdles that Ruddy, Evans and other players navigated to get the movie made.

“I couldn’t believe some of the stories,” said Goode.

Adds Patrick Gallo, who plays Puzo: “if you love the film, you’re not going to believe the kinds of things that went into making it.”

Drama inside and out

Although the “The Godfather” is an extreme example, Colin Hanks, who plays one of the suits at Paramount’s then owner, Gulf + Western, says “The Offer” provides a window into just how hard it is to make anything in Hollywood.

“It’s an interesting show for the people that have watched ‘The Godfather’ and love ‘The Godfather’ because obviously they’re going to know locations, they’re going to know characters, and there’s going to be some insight into the making of the film. But I think even if someone has not seen ‘The Godfather,’ I think it’s a pretty interesting examination of just how difficult it is.”