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/film wrote:‘Sopranos’ Movie Looking to Make Alessandro Nivola a Made Man as Christopher’s Father

The Sopranos movie, The Many Saints of Newark, is still happening, and the first piece of potential casting has been announced. Alessandro Nivola is in negotiations to play Dickey Moltisanti in the film, which is set before the events of The Sopranos. That’s no doubt a familiar name to fans of the show – Dickey Moltisanti was the father of Christopher Moltisanti, played by Michael Imperioli in the groundbreaking HBO series. Dickey was already dead by the time the events of The Sopranos took place, but The Many Saints of Newark will likely fill in his backstory. More on the Sopranos movie cast below.

Back in March, we learned that Sopranos creator David Chase was penning a script for a prequel movie called The Many Saints of Newark. It was announced the film would be set in the 1960s, but it wasn’t entirely clear which Sopranos characters would be popping up. Now, Variety reveals that Alessandro Nivola, who appeared in The Neon Demon, A Most Violent Year, and more, is likely to play Richard “Dickey” Moltisanti, father of main Sopranos character Christopher Moltisanti.

As revealed in The Sopranos, Dickey was a soldier in the Soprano crew, and good friends with Tony Soprano – the two were the same age, in fact. Dickey died in the 1970s, supposedly shot by a cop named Detective Lt. Barry Haydu. Years later, Tony helped Christopher locate Haydu, enabling Christopher to get revenge. However, since The Sopranos loved to deal with moral complexities and ambiguity, there was always some doubt that the cop was really Dickey’s killer.
The Sopranos – Christopher’s Father

Chase is penning the Many Saints script with Sopranos writer Lawrence Konner, and Alan Taylor, who directed several Sopranos episodes, is helming the film. As previously reported, the story will follow “the violent clashes between the African-American and Italian communities of Newark at the height of the Newark race riots in the 1960s. With tensions rising across the city, the conflicts between the gangsters of the groups became especially lethal.”

I remain perplexed about this whole endeavor. I loved The Sopranos – it’s one of the best shows of all time, in my humble opinion. But I just don’t see the need for a prequel movie. At the same time, knowing that creator David Chase is involved and working with several Sopranos creatives is a huge plus. Worst case scenario is the film will be a disappointment, and inspire me to rewatch the original series again instead. Best case scenario: it will be a welcomed return to the world Chase created.
nice to read this as we go through our semi-annual series re-watch. halfway through S3 now. that's a great casting.

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Pix11 wrote:James Gandolfini’s son Michael Gandolfini cast as Tony Soprano in ‘Sopranos’ prequel movie

James Gandolfini is best known for his role as Tony Soprano.

Now son Michael Gandolfini will step into his father’s acting shoes in the prequel movie to the television series “The Sopranos.” He’ll play the role of a young Tony in “The Many Saints of Newark,” Variety reported.

“The Many Saints of Newark” will focus on tensions between the New Jersey city’s African-American and Italian communities.

“It’s a profound honor to continue my dad’s legacy while stepping into the shoes of a young Tony Soprano,” Gandolfini said, according to Variety. “I’m thrilled that I am going to have the opportunity to work with David Chase and the incredible company of talent he has assembled for ‘The Many Saints of Newark.’”

Gandolfini joins Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll and Alessandro Nivola.

“The Sopranos” ran from 1999 – 2007 on HBO. The crime drama won more than 20 Emmys, five Golden Globes and two Peabody Awards.

Some of the show’s original characters will reportedly be featured in the film.
i don't watch the deuce, can this kid act? i can more about that then resemblance.

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The resemblance is there, sure, but this certainly feels like a desperate bid to gin up buzz for this project. (I don't watch The Deuce, either.)
This is a snakeskin jacket. And for me it's a symbol of my individuality and my belief in personal freedom.

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Watched The Many Saints Of Newark last night. It was fucking great. So damn cool. Very well done and left me wanting more, which is exactly what I expected from David Chase. It was a bit frantic - felt like it covered what could have been three seasons of a show, jamming it all into two hours - but like I said, was really great. Could easily function as a stand-alone film, but so, so many “easter eggs” for fans of the show. And I hope he does a sequel.

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OK in the last day I’ve seen a lot of very valid points made about what a shitty film it is - things like the sanitization of language, the age gap between Sil and Tony, the very much lack of Dickie being a “mentor” to Tony like he always described, Junior whacking someone for entirely personal reasons with no financial motivation (which is very unlike him), Paulie being shown as pretty soft (getting a manicure, concerned about his clothes) instead of the scary monster Tony described him being (“My dad, when we were being bad, always said he would sick uncle Paulie on us. He was terrifying”, etc.), how Chase initially said this was a story focusing on the riots yet they were all of 3 min of the movie, etc. They’re not wrong. I need to re-watch. Again, it’s not the story I wanted to see - the Soprano crew in their younger days (for example, maybe tell the story of the infamous card game?) - but it was a story of happenings surrounding them. Still, it feels like either the studio had massive influence on content, or this group suddenly forgot how to write their own characters. I’m betting on the former. And that epilogue is very suspect - when i said “i hope he does a sequel”, i was referring to it being about the young Soprano crew. But with that epilogue and the current state of things, I could see HBO jumping off of this to have an all-black ‘70s mafia-esque show, entirely unrelated, as a “sequel”. And even though some of the performances are very “caricature”-esque, i feel like it was very well-acted. I think it would have been better received if the series had never existed and/or hadn’t been so amazing and ground-breaking. Greatest mobster film ever? Not even close. Excellent follow-up to perhaps the greatest series ever made? Not remotely. Good north jersey earlier mafia days film? Yeah.

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we have three episodes left on our semi-regular sopranos re-watch. yes, all the main characters are really pieces of shit, but none moreso than paulie. the shit he pulls - on and to his alleged friends - is unbelievable. and then he laments being alone. this fucking guy is so quotable as a character but also so fucking hateable. just when you start feeling sorry for him, he'll pull some major shit that makes you hate him so much. and he has no problem lying to tony or anyone else.