`GODFATHER' TO HIT SCREEN MARCH 21.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Writer

Seeing an opportunity they can't refuse, Paramount Pictures will rerelease Francis Ford Coppola's ``The Godfather'' in major cities starting March 21.

While long planned as a commemoration of the Oscar-winning crime drama's 25th anniversary, the rerelease of ``The Godfather'' - at $133.7 million, the highest-grossing movie up to its time - has taken on a new dimension since the spectacular rerelease earlier this year of the 20-year-old ``Star Wars.''

Paramount plans neither to alter or add scenes to ``The Godfather'' nor to release it wide, unlike 20th Century Fox's approach to ``Star Wars'' and its two sequels, ``The Empire Strikes Back'' and ``Return of the Jedi.'' Brand new prints have been struck from the original ``Godfather'' negative, and a digitally remastered stereo soundtrack has been added.

The current plan is to showcase the new ``Godfather'' prints in selected theaters in 20 cities, including Los Angeles. There are no expectations for anything like the $105 million the spruced-up ``Star Wars'' has grossed between Jan. 31 and Thursday. Still, that reissue's astonishing success has put new life into old films, and - their distributors hope - new momentum into rereleases that were in the works long before the Jedi's spectacular return.

`` (The) `Star Wars' success has, absolutely, opened up the field for other reissues,'' says Fine Line Features President Ruth Vitale, who has a 25th anniversary version of John Waters' trash classic ``Pink Flamingos'' scheduled for April 11.

``It asks the question of studios: What do you have in the archives that you can bring to life again that audiences will come to? Which is a nice thing, which is a good thing,'' she said.