Titled 'The Many Saints of Newark', the feature prequel is set in the era of the Newark riots in the 60s.
- March 9, 2018
AceShowbiz -
"The Sopranos" days may be over, but there's a lot more to tell about New Jersey mobsters. New Line is developing a movie prequel to the 1960s series with David Chase, the creator of the crime drama, writing the script with fellow "Sopranos" scribe Lawrence Konner.
Currently titled "The Many Saints of Newark", the prequel movie is set in the era of the Newark riots in the 60s. That was a time when the African-Americans and the Italians of Newark were at each other's throats, and amongst the gangsters of each group, those conflicts became especially lethal.
Some fan-favorite characters from the HBO series are expected to appear, but there are no words which ones. Judging from the time period, those who are likely to appear in the film include Tony Soprano's father, Giovanni "Johnny Boy", the former captain of the Soprano crew (played in flashbacks by Joseph Siravo), and a younger version of his wife Livia (played in the show's first season by Nancy Marchand), and Tony's uncle Junior, played by Chianese.
No cast is announced for the feature film project. Chase will also serve as producer and will be involved in selecting a director.
Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros Pictures Group, the parent company of New Line, says in a statement obtained by Deadline, "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."
Running for six seasons from 1999 until 2007, "The Sopranos" has been dubbed one of the greatest series of all time. In 2013, the Writer Guild of America East and West named the show the best written TV series of all time.
James Gandolfini, who passed away in 2013, starred as Tony Soprano, an Italian American mobster at the center of the show. Frank Vincent, who had a recurring, but significant role as Phil Leotardo, died last year. Also starring on the series were Edie Falco, Steven Van Zandt, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa and Tony Sirico.
