Hard to believe the 20t anniversary of HBO’s The Sopranos is right around the corner. The mob series basically redefined must-watch TV, but can it have the same kind of impact on the big screen? Series creator David Chase is marking the occasion by revealing details on his prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark, and while it won’t tell us the true story of how Tony Soprano’s life ended (Was it the infamous cut-to-black in the series finale??), it will tell us something about how Tony learned to be the boss.
While we already knew the film would center on the rise of the mafia under Dickie Moltisanti (played by Alessandro Nivola) in the 1960s, it will also explore the racial tensions between the blacks and Italians in Newark at that time. Chase tells Deadline…
“I was interested in Newark and life in Newark at that time. I used to go down there every Saturday night for dinner with my grandparents. But the thing that interested me most was Tony’s boyhood. I was interested in exploring that.”
That’s right, a young Tony Soprano will be on hand watching events unfold, and I’m already getting visions of A Bronx Tale in my head. Chase continues…
“It is going to depict when it was good. The mafia was very polished at that time, how they dressed and what they did. Those traditions were followed more loosely in the series. These weren’t guys who wore tracksuits, back then.”
“The movie will deal with the tensions between the blacks and whites at the time, and Tony Soprano will be part of this, but as a kid.”
Chase emphasized that he’s “very worried” about the film, saying he rejected doing it for a long time. Now he’s afraid of how fans will react to it…
“Yeah, I feel they’re out there with shotguns, just waiting,” he added.
Just don’t pull into any tollbooths if the movie sucks, okay? Or go out boating. Or to get a haircut.
