The Sopranos creator David Chase wants to do another movie, but WarnerMedia wants a TV show
Chase is "not that anxious" to do another Sopranos series
Aux News warnermedia
The Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints Of Newark didn’t quite wow many of the show’s loyal fans, but it sparked plenty of nostalgia for the cult classic HBO series. The film bombed at the box office, but found massive success through streaming. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Sopranos creator David Chase talks about being pressured by Warner Media to make a prequel series because of Many Saints Of Newark’s success on HBO Max, but it’s not something he’s fully on board with.
“The movie didn’t do well in theaters, but it, like, broke the machine on streaming—it was huge. So now they want me to do another series of Sopranos from the time the movie ends until the time the series begins,” he explains to THR.
When asked how he feels about making that series, he responds by saying he’s “not that anxious to do it.” He also says he already has an idea for a second movie, but he doesn’t “think [WarnerMedia] wants that.”
Chase’s plans sound in line with what Michael Gandolfini wanted to do with his character, too. The actor recently did an interview with Uproxx where he talked about not being too interested in playing Tony in his 30s.
“My dad really explored and David explored everything about that. So is there a time limit around other movies? No, not so much. But the older I get, there is a cutoff where it just naturally goes into the show,” he said.
A movie would fit within that period, likely picking up around the timeline that Many Saints Of Newark ends. But who knows how long a series could run for? And as much as Sopranos fans love learning more about the characters, adding too much to the story of a beloved show can potentially ruin the fun.
25 Comments
Do you think Chase even cares that Saints was awful in comparison to the show? I mean, he can’t believe it held its own, could he?
They should compromise and do a rock opera.
Tony can you HEAR me?!That deaf, dumb & blind kid sure plays a mean gabagool!
i love everything you’re doing here
See me, feel me, touch me, poor you.
He never had the makings of a varsity pinball player though
If David Chase doesn’t feel like doing a new show, then he shouldn’t. He’s already created an enduring cultural icon, he probably has plenty of money, and from the looks of that photo he’s been dead for a couple of years. There’s no shame in resting on your well-earned laurels.
Judging by what he’s been doing for most of the time since the Sopranos ended, I think he agrees with you.
He wrote and developed a bunch of things that got really close to going but then didn’t. It’s pretty disheartening that you can make one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful dramas in history and still not get things made.
If he’s that chalky looking dude in the picture, he should probably go straight to bed and get some rest.
“If David Chase doesn’t feel like doing a new show, then he shouldn’t.”
I’m sure he thanks you for giving him permission.
I love the show. Seriously. I wanted to like the movie- I waited YEARS for it. I do not think he should do another show. Or movie. At all.Lets wait 20 something years and let some young filmmaker come in and do “THE SOPRANOS” in 2040. It’ll feel fresh and new and have nothing else to add to the conversation but at least most of us will be elderly and/or dead and won’t be able to talk about how much better the old one was.
Until then, I don’t want to hear any more talk of David Chase doing another dang thing with this heritage. Leave it to die a quiet, respected death, we’ll all pretend NEWARK was a hallucinatory fever-dream, and move on.
Poor David Chase has always, always just wanted a hit film in the theaters. It’s too bad no one saw Not Fade Away, because I thought it was a great little movie.
The film felt like a pilot ,although the death of a main character would have been better served a few season later.
I think they should let him do a movie on the condition that he tells us whether Tony’s dead or not
love these stories because it assumes the public is happy to eat up whatever slop we get.movie sucked!
STOP DOING PREQUELS. STOP IT. STOP STOP STOP.
“This is so wizard, Tony!”
Too many would-be films are already padded out into mediocre series. I hope Chase sticks to his guns and doesn’t give in to the content-hungry machine.
Did you watch Many Saints of Newark? Because it was quite the opposite – it felt like a series chopped up with the highlights regurgitated into a 2 hour film
WarnerMedia is right in this case. The TV format just fits this genre style better. There’s more time for world building, character exploration, etc. But in a movie format, you’re basically just checkboxing the typical mafia movie tropes. Many Saints suffered from this. When it wasn’t doing Sopranos fan service, it felt like just a generic mob movie you’ve seen a hundred times.But if Chase doesn’t want to do it, then he shouldn’t. He’s got nothing to prove. Sopranos was excellent. Just leave it be.
The irony here is that David Chase is the man who redefined television drama and yet his primary goal, never attained, is to become an accomplished filmmaker. “The Many Saints of Newark” was overstuffed with ideas and could have flourished as a limited series with room to breathe. I don’t blame Warner Media for wanting a series. Hopefully Chase will compromise and expand his film idea into a limited run of episodes.
Definitely, Many Saints felt like someone cut up a great 10 episode miniseries and made a highlight reel movie to dump on foreign markets.
Yes, absolutely 100% agree that Many Saints would have worked better as a limited series
Based on his Maron interview he seemed to think he was a failure for never succeeding in movies. I can’t imagine him doing another TV show. Though everyone likes money.