Does Sopranos Theatrical Prequel Interest You? Us, Not So Much...

Tony Soprano, aka James Gandolfini, died on June 19, 2013, in Rome at the age of 51. Personally, our interest in a new Sopranos project went with him.

Tony Soprano, aka James Gandolfini


That's why we've been sitting on this. Even though it's a prequel, the whole idea of a new Sopranos film is bittersweet, at best.

David Chase, creator of the iconic HBO series, will co-write and produce the movie, which is set in 1960s Newark.





Deadline.com reported that creator and showrunner Chase sold a script to New Line, the Warner Bros. unit. The working title is The Many Saints of Newark. Chase wrote the script with Lawrence Konner, a veteran TV/movie writer who wrote a handful of Sopranos episodes.

It's been 11 years since we all thought our cable died in the final moments of the long-running series. The groundbreaking show ran for six seasons from 1999 – 2007. It won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and Peabody Awards for its first two seasons. Other stars on the show included Edie Falco, Steven Van Zandt, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa, etc and so forth.

Chase reportedly "has routinely been asked about another “Sopranos” project and just as routinely dismissed the prospect."

Or did he? We noted back in 2014 that a Sopranos prequel had been on Chase's mind. He told AP: "Even if I did (a Sopranos film), it wouldn't be 'The Sopranos' that was on the air — obviously at least one person is gone that we would need," he says. "There are a couple of eras that would be interesting for me to talk about, about Newark, New Jersey. One would be (the) late '60s, early '70s, about all the racial animosity, or the beginning, the really true beginning of the flood of drugs."

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly on the finale’s 10th anniversary, Chase again raised the possibility: “I could conceive of maybe a prequel of ‘The Sopranos,’ ” he said. “I could never see [a return of the show] except as a prequel.”

According to Deadline, the “Many Saints” prequel will be set in 1960s Newark, when the DiMeo crime family clashed with rival black gangs.

The timing seems to indicate that the film will likely focus on Tony’s mobster father, Giovanni “Johnny Boy” Soprano, played by Joseph Siravo in multiple flashbacks during the series

In a statement to Deadline, Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich said, “David is a masterful storyteller and we, along with our colleagues at HBO, are thrilled that he has decided to revisit, and enlarge, the Soprano universe in a feature film.”



Comments