AceShowbiz - New Line Cinema has picked Alan Taylor to direct "The Many Saints of Newark", which is the feature-film prequel to HBO's "The Sopranos". TheWrap reported that the director would work based on a script from the iconic series' creator David Chase and screenwriter Lawrence Konner. Besides writing, Chase also serves as the producer.

Taylor previously directed nine episodes of the crime drama series. In 2007, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing category for his work on the show's sixth season episode "Kennedy and Heidi." The 59-year-old director also directed episodes of other successful series such as "Game of Thrones", "Mad Men", "Boardwalk Empire" and "Nurse Jackie". As for movies, his credits include Marvel's "Thor: The Dark World" and "Terminator Genisys".

"The Many Saints of Newark" takes place in the 1960s and follows wave of riots in Newark, New Jersey during conflicts between African-American and Italian residents. Several characters from "The Sopranos" are expected to return in younger version in the prequel. However, New Line Cinema keeps further details of the plot under wraps.

"The Sopranos", which ran from 1999 to 2007, won 21 Emmys from 111 nominations. The crime drama was nominated for Outstanding Drama Series in every year during the period of time, marking it the first cable network show to win the award in 2004 and later won again for its final season in 2007.

The prequel got mixed reactions from the Emmy-winning series fans on Twitter after New Line Cinema announced the project back in March. "Oh my The Sopranos prequel movie set in the 60s. Does that mean that tony is in his early teens or twentys? I would love to see that," an excited fan wrote. "My day was going great but got even better when I just saw this new about the Sopranos coming back in movie form," another one added.

Some other fans doubted it because James Gandolfini, who was the main actor of the series, wouldn't appear in the prequel. "Don't know how I feel about a The Sopranos prequel movie. I don't really want to see The Sopranos without Gandolfini," another fan wrote, mentioning the deceased main actor of the show. "Here's what I gather will be an unpopular opinion: THE SOPRANOS is a flawless masterpiece that needs no extensions of any kind, be they prequel or sequel, and it should be left well enough alone. Sorry if this offends," one fan disagreed with the prequel in the works.