Holy shit: this is the kind of news you never quite expect to get but goddamn, is it a pleasant surprise.
The Sopranos is getting a big-screen prequel film with creator David Chase returning to helm the story.
The script, written by Chase and Sopranos screenwriter Lawrence Konner, and purchased by New Line, will be set against the backdrop of the Newark riots of the 1960s, and promises to bring back some of the beloved characters from the series. Details are scarce, but Deadline reports that it looks like Tony Soprano‘s father, Giovanni “Johnny Boy” (played in flashbacks by Joseph Sivaro), his wife Livia (played by Nancy Marchand) and Tony’s uncle Junior (played by Dominic Chianese) are likely to appear.
“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,” said New Line chairman Toby Emmerich.
The series is still widely considered to be one of the best on television ever, winning 21 Emmys, making stars of its leads, and paving the way for more nuanced storytelling, antiheroes, and the ‘The Golden Age of Television’.
Chase has been speaking on-and-off about a Sopranos prequel for a couple years now, telling Deadline in 2016 that “if I had a really good idea and I thought it could be really entertaining and it wouldn’t upset what was done I might do it,” and Entertainment Weekly in 2017 that he could only ever conceive of a return to The Sopranos as a prequel.
Six seasons and a (prequel) movie, huh. Get the fuck outta here.
