The Sopranos creator David Chase was recently said to be in negotiations for a new Sopranos-related series at HBO Max. But according to the man himself, he’d rather revisit that world with a movie.
Speaking with the Hollywood Reporter and its Awards Chatter podcast recently, Chase implied that his desires for the future of Sopranos stories are at odds with WarnerMedia, with whom he signed a five-year, first-look deal back in October. “The movie [The Many Saints of Newark] didn't do well in theaters, but it, like, broke the machine on streaming,” he said. “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.”
Ann Sarnoff, chair and CEO of WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group, recently said she was “thrilled” by the response to The Many Saints of Newark, and there have been discussions about a new series from Chase. “I’m not that anxious to do it,” Chase explained. “I would do one more movie. … I have an idea for that that I’d like to do. But I don’t think they want that.”
As anyone familiar with The Sopranos and its recent prequel movie can attest, there’s still plenty of untapped story potential in the time between the end of the movie and the start of the series. James Gandolfini’s 22-year-old son Michael Gandolfini told Uproxx in September that he’s game to play young Tony again, but he stressed time is of the essence because he’s “not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony [Soprano].”
It’s clear that Chase is still eager to tell stories with these characters, but it remains to be seen what form these stories will take. Elsewhere in the interview, Chase also reflected on the reaction to the polarizing Sopranos finale and said “nobody said anything about the episode … it was all about the ending.” In fact, he said he had “no idea” it would spark the reaction it did.
“I had no idea it would be that much of an uproar. And was it annoying? What was annoying was how many people wanted to see Tony killed. That bothered me," he added. "They wanted to know that Tony was killed. They wanted to see him go face-down in linguini, you know? And I just thought, “God, you watched this guy for seven years and I know he’s a criminal. But don’t tell me you don’t love him in some way, don’t tell me you’re not on his side in some way.'"
