HBO Boss On ‘Sopranos’ Reboot: ‘Never Say Never’
The Sopranos, widely considered the most acclaimed series in the history of American television, ran on HBO from 1999 to 2007. While there was never a sequel, reboot or wrap-up to the show after it ended its initial run, series creator David Chase is currently at work on The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel movie set in the 1960s that’s scheduled for release next year.
Are fans going to see a continuation of The Sopranos as a TV series after the movie? HBO’s president of programming said this week that there’s a chance.
Per Deadline, HBO executive Casey Bloys was asked about a revisiting of The Sopranos this week at the Television Critics’ Association press tour.
“I keep saying ‘never say never’,” Bloys said. While he was sure to say that there have been no official discussions or plans for such a series, Bloys praised actor Michael Gandolfini, who is playing the young Tony Soprano in the upcoming movie.
“There is nothing on the table at the moment but I will stay open,” the executive added.
Michael Gandolfini’s father, James Gandolfini, who died in 2013, played Tony Soprano on The Sopranos‘ entire run. The younger Gandolfini has done work on another HBO series, The Deuce.
The Sopranos famously ended on a never-resolved cliffhanger over whether or not Tony Soprano was dead.
The Many Saints of Newark, directed by former series director Alan Taylor, is set in the late 1960s and stars Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Christopher Moltisanti, who was played by Michael Imperioli on the Sopranos TV series. The film, which will deal with the 1967 Newark race riots and also touch on the mob characters from the series, also stars Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Ray Liotta and Leslie Odom, Jr.
‘The Sopranos’: HBO Boss On Rebooting Iconic Drama Following Prequel Movie https://t.co/L5jZgtmA58 pic.twitter.com/e8knKOVjpA
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 25, 2019
“There are expected to be call-backs and shout-outs to numerous other series characters in the film, which is set in the earlier time period,” Deadline said of the upcoming movie.
Chase, the creator of The Sopranos, is the producer and co-writer, along with Lawrence Konner. With the exception of the 2012 film Not Fade Away, The Many Saints of Newark will mark David Chase’s first new project since The Sopranos went off the air in 2007.
This year, The Sopranos celebrated the 20th anniversary of its debut, and it was marked by the publication of a book called The Sopranos Sessions, a Sopranos Film Festival, and a marathon of rebroadcasts of the episodes on HBO.
