The Godfather is an three-time Academy Award-winning 1972 crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the the novel of the same name by Mario Puzo — Puzo and Coppola collaborated on the screenplay. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Diane Keaton and James Caan. The story spans ten years from late 1945 to 1955 and chronicles the Corleone Mafia family. The Godfather is ranked as the third best American film in history by the American Film Institute, and it is one of only two movies, according to the Internet Movie Database's Top 250 list, with a 9.1/10 rating. It is also the number one movie on Metacritic's top 100 list. It was subsequently followed with The Godfather Part II in 1974 and The Godfather Part III in 1990.