'The Sopranos' prequel movie will show Tony Soprano's youth
The Sopranos remains one of HBO's best shows and overall one of the greatest shows ever made. An exploration of a New Jersey mobster, the series depicted the humane psyche even in a life of crime and juxtaposed it against the backdrop of the American dream. While a prequel film to the series had been announced last year, more details have been revealed now.
What we already knew about the prequel film
To catch you up to speed, we already knew that show maker David Chase was planning a prequel to his beloved series. It would be set in the 1960s and would focus on the race riots that erupted between the Italians and the African Americans in New Jersey. Notably, the upcoming prequel has been titled The Many Saints of Newark. Here are new details.
Chase confirms young Soprano, his father and his uncle
Chase has confirmed that the upcoming movie will center around a young Tony Soprano along with his tough mob soldier dad, Johnny Boy, and uncle Junior Soprano. We will get a deeper look into Tony's tough dad and nagging mother, which caused panic attacks in him later, as the series showed. Tony will witness the racial riots in New Jersey as a young kid.
The mob's origins and racial tensions in prequel movie
The movie will provide an origin point, tracing how racial violence led to organized crime. This will be done through Dickie Moltisanti's character, played by Alessandro Nivola. Dickie is the father of Christopher, who was killed by a corrupt cop. Tony later took Christopher under his wing in The Sopranos. Dickie's character will be the entry point of the mob's origins amid racial tension.
Why Chase chose a prequel instead of a sequel
A sequel became impossible following the death of James Gandolfini, who played Tony, in 2013. So, Chase decided on a prequel instead. He decided to focus on the mob's glory days that Tony spoke of in the show. While having to compete with the immense popularity of his own creation, if anyone can make The Sopranos better in the upcoming movie, it's Chase himself!
