Who was offered to direct The Godfather before Francis Ford Coppola?

The answer is: Sergio Leone. The studio had Sergio Leone, an Italian and pioneer of the spaghetti Western, as their top choice to direct the movie, but he declined so he could direct a different mafia movie, Once Upon a Time in America.Paramount offered the job to multiple other directors before landing on Coppola, who himself initially declined. I guess they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.Source