Thought this might be a positive "Sopronos in the news" bite that avoids the he's dead debate. Other then Chase being happy w/ a story for a movie, I thought the biggest stubbling block would be Gandolfini ever wanting to do it again. This article takes a little bit of pressure off that decision


James Gandolfini open to a Sopranos movie
Posted: January 23, 2009, 11:16 AM by Mark Medley
Movies, the sopranos, james gandolfini



James Gandolfini tells New York magazine's Vulture blog that he'd be open to participating in a big-screen version of the acclaimed mob drama The Sopranos.

"Obviously it is the writing of the script, and if David [Chase] and them come up with something, then that would do it for me," he said. "I'm very happy doing different things right now. But obviously it would be great to bring everyone back together."

The Emmy-winning series went off the air in 2007 after six seasons and 86 episodes. There's been rumours hope that a movie would be produced ever since the finale, which featured an ambiguous ending for the New Jersey mob patriarch and his family.


[Handout]

WooHooo!- Best news i have heard in a long time!!

Thank you for posting that!

Very good to hear. I figured that the more time intervened, the more he would be open to it despite how happy and relieved he sounded when the show ended. I can understand his need to get away from it because of who his character is and how much he immersed himself in it. But I figured he would also miss the experience of working with his fellow Sopranos cast and collaborators and that, in time, the idea of a short term return would appeal to him.

I still think a movie is a mistake, at least if the intent is to cast a net around an audience broader than the one that watched the series for 8 years. The things that made the Sopranos so singularly great generally require a more leisurely pace to get across and a more focused, patient audience than what normally plunks down $8.00 + for a 110 minute movie. I think something like a 4-5 episode mini season on HBO makes more sense and also implicitly acknowledges the unique strengths of the television medium when executed the right way.

The mini series or maybe even a new seasonal story that takes us back. I say this because HBO has got to be dying and a single theatrical release won't cover HBO's nut or be the proper medium to bring it back. As long as we are all dreaming

That would be my dream series or movie- somehow developing the historical background of what we already just experienced for 8 years, maybe bringing it into the present the way GFII intertwined with GFI, etc. (i won't even try to figure how GFIII would have any parallels- but there were some of the GFIII angles that would work. but alas, i just cannot get the horrible acting of Sofia Coppola out of my mind, and then i transfer it onto if that would make Meadow's role less appealing in a future series, etc...). Or, they could just pick up with Tony and family in their new life in Witness protection after various plastic surgeries; with occasional cameos of previous main characters that manage to sneak contact with them, like Henry Hill had in real life. It could be really intriguing, and provide a whole new line of thinking that would be a new stretch for Chase and company.

FlyOnMelfisWall wrote:Very good to hear. I figured that the more time intervened, the more he would be open to it despite how happy and relieved he sounded when the show ended. I can understand his need to get away from it because of who his character is and how much he immersed himself in it. But I figured he would also miss the experience of working with his fellow Sopranos cast and collaborators and that, in time, the idea of a short term return would appeal to him.

I still think a movie is a mistake, at least if the intent is to cast a net around an audience broader than the one that watched the series for 8 years. The things that made the Sopranos so singularly great generally require a more leisurely pace to get across and a more focused, patient audience than what normally plunks down $8.00 + for a 110 minute movie. I think something like a 4-5 episode mini season on HBO makes more sense and also implicitly acknowledges the unique strengths of the television medium when executed the right way.

Brilliant point about why a movie would be a mistake. Absolutely spot on. The leisurely pace but with ingenious detail is what made the show so special. This is why repeat viewing is so rewarding. The popcorn brigade of the movie theatre would require x number of killings/ Bing girls etc. in a two hour film, completely negating the depth of the original. A mini-series could certainly work though.
I would be totally against any present-day, linear new show for reasons I'll give in a minute but how about this just to kick it around. The new show would start with Paulie (or whoever you want) ringing Corky setting up a hit. Corky rings "the other side" and we see a familiar looking hit-man. Throughout the show, interspersed with all manner of other Sopranos business, we follow him from Italy to the US. His journey's end? Holsten's. And we see who his target is. We follow him to the bathroom....
I am not, in all sincerity trying to start or provoke more debate on this, the dreaded subject.What I am saying is this is the only way, for me, any new Sopranos could work. But I am against even this, as it goes. Why? Like I said in another post, the piece as it is perfect. Future Sopranos fans could see the new, later film/mini-series first and the mystery of the clues and subtext of the original would be ruined. IMO.

This is excellent although David hasn't confirmed that he's going to write a movie. He said writing a movie would be awkward because most of the main characters are dead. But the way I see it is, Tony is blatantly not dead so the show is about Tony so why not continue doing seasons rather than a movie but I think the worry with that is the guys are goin to get fed up with doin a series all the time

When I first came across the article I didn't think it warranted a comment. I had the impression that Gandolfini was toying with the few reporters who bothered to show up to interview him about his latest movie. It appeared that most entertainment scribes were more interested in interviewing Kevin Spacey.

Knowing they had Gandolfini to themselves they asked to inevitable question about a Sopranos movie. (Why they didn't ask about that final scene is unfathomable. Elsewhere Imperioli was asked and he spelled out what he thought happened!)

"If I was broke, I would do it," Gandolfini told us, grimacing".

I would hate to think that the only reason they would make a movie (Chase, Gandolfini and HBO) was for the money.

Then he went about Chase writing an appropriate script.

I wondered if Chase really let his actors know what he had in mind when they were filming that last scene. Is it possible he told them when they were filming at Holsten's that it was "business as usual" in order to ensure that they maintained an oblivious demeanour throughout the filming?

On the other hand you would think he would let the star of the show know after the event.

But all this reminded me of an earlier interview with Chase where the subject of a movie was broached.

http://blog.nj.com/alltv/2007/06/david_ ... .html#more

Some fans have already assumed that the ambiguous ending was Chase setting up the oft-rumored "Sopranos" movie, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards.

"I don't think about (a movie) much," he says. "I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it.

"I'm not being coy," he adds. "If something appeared that really made a good 'Sopranos' movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we've kind of said it and done it."

Another problem: over the last season, Chase killed so many key characters. He's toyed with the idea of "going back to a day in 2006 that you didn't see, but then (Tony's children) would be older than they were then and you would know that Tony doesn't get killed. It's got problems."

The last paragraph is a little confusing where he is talking about a movie set earlier than the final season. But I think he is making it clear that he doesn't want a movie that makes it definite in people's minds that Tony wasn't killed.

No Conkom, I think what he's saying in the last paragraph is not referring to the finale at all but about the would-be movie in question itself. What I mean is that in a flashback type of movie/ mini series we would know Tony doesn't die IN IT, simply because it IS in flashback so we would know Tony is alive AFTER the " day we didn't see". It would be the same with all of the principal characters, we know they are all alive after the time period of any movie so it would rule out a lot of story-lines/ suspense plot-lines etc. I'm sure this is what he means and that he's not referring to Holsten's at all.

Yes you're right a recent flashback tale wouldn't work.

I think a series set in the sixties centred around Johnny Boy and Junior probably has more potential.