With all the casting and news surrounding David Chase’s “The Many Saints of Newark,” aka “The Soprano’s Prequel,” you would think that this film is coming sometime in 2019. Well, you’d be wrong. With a new, consolidated title, Warner Bros. has decided that fans hoping for a hell of a 20th anniversary present will have to wait until Fall 2020 to see the young Tony Soprano on the big screen.
As mentioned, 2019 marks the 20th anniversary of the first season of HBO’s critically-acclaimed, and honestly, one of the best TV series of all-time, “The Sopranos.” And with all the news in the previous few months about the upcoming prequel film, it was assumed that later this year, audiences would get to see just what Chase and director Alan Taylor have cooked up with their period drama. Alas, that’s not the case, as WB has given the film, now simply titled “Newark,” a September 25, 2020 release date, according to Deadline.
That’s right, fans will have to wait over a year and a half before seeing the early days of Tony Soprano and the crime family that would take over New Jersey. “Newark” is said to be set in the 1960s and tells the story of the crime family that would later be led by Tony, as they are fighting a turf war with the African-American gangs of the time. The film will feature a younger Tony Soprano, who will be played by James Gandolfini’s son Michael, and probably, in typical prequel fashion, show the pivotal moments in his younger days that would shape the man that fans know and love from the series.
Joining Michael Gandolfini in the cast are Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, and Corey Stoll. The film is directed by ‘Sopranos’ helmer Taylor and is co-written by Chase, along with his frequent collaborator Lawrence Konner.
“Newark” will hit theaters September 25, 2020.