The Godfather Part II was first released in cinemas in 1974.
The sequel arrived two years after The Godfather and continued the story of Michael Corleone while also showing Vito Corleone’s earlier life. Its two timelines move between the mid-20th-century United States and the period when Vito establishes himself in New York. This structure made the film both a sequel and a prequel to parts of its own story.
The film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and written by Coppola and Mario Puzo. It was released in December 1974 in the United States and became one of the most acclaimed sequels in cinema history.
The year is sometimes confused with 1972, the release year of the original film, or 1990, the year The Godfather Part III appeared. Those dates identify the trilogy’s first and third theatrical films, not Part II.