Sopranos creator David Chase 'might' be open to a Many Saints of Newark sequel

Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark explores the origin story of iconic mobster Tony Soprano.

Creator David Chase revealed in a new interview with Rolling Stone that he was reluctant to dive back into the New Jersey mob scene but ‘might’ now be open to the idea of a sequel to his upcoming film.

The prequel feature sees James Gandolfini’s real life son Michael take on the late actor’s starring role as the mafia boss 15 years after the HBO drama went off the air.

David Chase, 76, told the outlet that doing extra shooting for The Many Saints of Newark ‘brought the movie much more to my heart.’

The producer and showrunner revealed that some of the writers on the project have expressed an interest in furthering the story and that may be enough to get him on board. 

‘If one of those guys was going to do it, I might do it with him,’ he said, adding with a caveat: ‘That’s really not high on my list of what to do. I’m not getting any younger. I want to make another movie, hopefully, and it would not be this one.’

One of the concepts the actors are hoping to explore is the relationship between Tony and wife Carmela, played in the series by Edie Falco.  

‘If we’re lucky maybe we’ll get to tell more of the story,’ said John Magro who plays young Silvio. ‘I think it would be really interesting to see more of Tony’s journey.’

Vera Farmiga, who plays Tony’s mom adds that she’d even prefer turning the next film into a television series.

‘I hope there’s a Many Saints of Newark 2. Honestly, it would be my heart’s delight if they would just do a prequel series,’ she said. ‘That would be my absolute dream.’ 

‘I’m not ready to let this character go,’ Vera said of Livia Soprano. ‘I feel it’s just the beginning.’ 

Sopranos fans are itching to finally get to see the film, many years in the making, following delays due to COVID-19. 

The story is set during the 1960s Newark Riots, following the violent conflict between the Italian mobsters and African-American gangs. 

HBO Max released a two-minute long first look into the origin story earlier this summer seeing Michael Gandolfini, 22, embrace the grit, street smarts and intense family loyalty first embodied by his father.   

Teenaged Tony appears to be on the precipice of two paths for his life in the film,  one on the straight and narrow, where it’s made clear to his mom Livia that he has a ‘high IQ’ or one with ‘the family.’ 

Tony’s mom Livia, played by Vera Farmiga looks almost disturbingly like his future wife, Carmela Soprano (Edie Falco) – perhaps a nod to some of the many issues the crime boss will wax poetic on with Dr. Melfi in the HBO series. 

In the series, his much older mother (Nancy Marchand) who was abusive and withholding when he was a child was a perpetual thorn in Tony’s side. 

The Many Saints of Newark stars Alessandro Nivola, Michael Gandolfini, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Billy Magnussen, and John Magaro. 

Jon Bernthal pays Tony’s dad Johnny Soprano who is referenced in the HBO series but his death predated the timeline of the show   

Tony’s parents were originally played by Laila Robins and Joseph Siravo, were featured in flashback scenes. 

Nancy Marchand played an older version of Livia for the first two seasons. Marchard died from cancer in 2000 before filming on the third season began; the script was reworked to include the death of her character. 

Alessandro plays Dickie Moltisanti, a familiar surname to any fan of the iconic HBO show who knows all too well Christopher Moltisanti, played by the incomparable Michael Imperioli. 

Dickie was never seen during the drama’s tenure on television but referenced several times as a sort of mentor of Tony Soprano. The character died during Christopher’s infancy and was only portrayed on the original show through photographs. 

‘Growing up with the family,’ Dickie explains to Tony in the trailer, ‘tales a toll.’ 

The Soprano family tree is a bit of a twisted one as Dickie is the cousin of Tony’s wife Carmela (Edie Falco), however Tony refers to her second cousin Christopher (Imperioli) solely as his nephew. 

Dickie is described as a ‘a charismatic but violent made man who falls in love with his father’s much younger bride, a recent immigrant from Italy.’

His mentorship with young Tony set the intelligent teen down the misguided path of violence and crime that led to the well-to-do Jersey mobster anti-here with panic attacks that viewers in the early aughts would come to know and love. 

The Sopranos centered around mob boss Tony Soprano and his dealings with his family and The Family while also seeking treatment for panic attacks. 

The hit show was one of the first of it’s kind and ran for six seasons on HBO from 1999 to 2007.

It made a star of actor James Gandolfini, won numerous awards including Golden Globes, Emmys and SAG Awards, and is often credited for the kicking off the stellar trend of television dramas in the 2000s and 2010s. 

Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack while visiting Rome, Italy, on June 19, 2013. He was 51. 

The Many Saints of Newark will be released in theaters and simultaneously on HBO Max October 1.