Great news for fans of the one of the very best TV shows ever made.
While everyone absolutely loves The Sopranos, not everybody was in love with The Many Saints of Newark.
The prequel movie was released last month, and while it scored okay with critics (60% on Metacritic), audiences failed to turn out for it, and at the time of writing, the $50 million production (not including promotional costs) has made just $11 million at the global box office.
Despite that, HBO and Warner Brothers have announced that they’re in discussions with show creator and movie writer David Chase about a follow-up series.
WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Chair and CEO Ann Sarnoff told Deadline the following:
“We’re thrilled with the results of Many Saints. Yes, the box office was not quite as big, but back again to the demographics of whose going to theatres. On the other hand, you see Sopranos pop into the top 10 of the most viewed series on the service. It’s given it an entirely new life.
“We’re talking to David about a new series Sopranos related on HBO Max. [The movie] literally lifted the Sopranos franchise in a new way, so you can’t measure it in and of itself in the box office.”
So HBO are talking to Chase about a new series “Sopranos-related”… which leaves a lot of wiggle room for guessing.
The general consensus on what that new series might be would be is that it will follow on from the events of The Many Saints of Newark, but before the start of the original The Sopranos show.
Michael Gandolfini, son of James Gandolfini, who plays a younger version of Tony Soprano in the prequel movie, told Uproxx as much in a recent interview:
“I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony. I think if there’s an interesting part after this movie, before the show, that we can explore something about Tony that hasn’t been explored, in his youth, in his 20s. After that, we’re getting a little too old.”
JOE caught up with Michael Gandolfini in the run-up to the release of The Many Saints of Newark, and you can check out that interview in full right here:
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