The Chase Lounge

EXCLUSIVE: David Chase is finally ready to return to the New Jersey turf of his iconic creation The Sopranos. New Line has purchased the screenplay The Many Saints of Newark, the working title for a feature prequel of The Sopranos that is set in the era of the Newark riots in the 60s.

Some of the beloved characters from the series will appear in the film. I couldn’t get any more information about the plot, but the time period indicates there will be room for 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 indelibly in the show’s first season by Nancy Marchand), and Tony’s uncle Junior, played by Chianese.

Chase will serve as producer as well as co-writer, and he will be involved in selecting a director.

http://deadline.com/2018/03/david-chase ... 202319202/

Wow! That is news. Sounds as if the script is complete, but it's strange Chase won't be directing, especially since it's not a series but a feature. Unless there are tacit plans to develop it into a series after a "pilot" feature.

All this makes me wonder what happened to Chase's mini series for HBO called, IRRC, "Ribbon of Dreams" about early Hollywood. I was looking forward to that format and to Chase's take on that era. I thought sure that would be the next major project to hit production with his name on it. Still could be, I suppose, since these things sometimes take years to actually start filming, but I wonder if enthusiasm -- his or HBO's -- waned on that project and led to this Sopranos prequel being written and perhaps moved ahead in the production pipeline.

This is interesting and exciting. My approach though (at least until more info is revealed, but likely for a long time) is to regard this as a separate entity rather than as an addition to The Sopranos. While I'd like to see many characters we've known or heard of, I hope it's focus is on themes and plot lines of it's own rather than as a primary basis for the series. Perhaps I'm resistant to having to reconsider my interpretations and other analyses with a great deal of new and additional info.

James Gandolfini’s Son Michael Gandolfini Cast as Tony Soprano in ‘Sopranos’ Movie
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/youn ... ckNVjPHFhY

Michael Gandolfini playing a young Tony Soprano is a big test for him.
How is it going to work if Tony was born in 1959, and the Newark riots were in 1967?
Michael Gandolfini is about 19 years old. Presumably he will be playing an older teenager after the riots ?

Members Only wrote: Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:23 am Michael Gandolfini playing a young Tony Soprano is a big test for him.
How is it going to work if Tony was born in 1959, and the Newark riots were in 1967?
Michael Gandolfini is about 19 years old. Presumably he will be playing an older teenager after the riots ?

I'm guessing they will do more than one film or maybe it will be like a mini series.

sopranology wrote: Wed Jan 23, 2019 8:26 am James Gandolfini’s Son Michael Gandolfini Cast as Tony Soprano in ‘Sopranos’ Movie
https://variety.com/2019/film/news/youn ... ckNVjPHFhY

That certainly adds even more intrigue to this project. Looking forward to more news!