Conversations about further Sopranos material have reportedly begun between network HBO and the show’s creator, David Chase.
Chase had previously suggested in an interview that there could be another feature film with Chase and Terence Winter writing together, but now it looks like it could end up as a TV series for HBO Max.
Ann Sarnoff, CEO, Studios and Networks, WarnerMedia, told Deadline that the company was “thrilled” with the results of The Many Saints of Newark. “We’re talking to David about a new series, Sopranos-related, on HBO Max,” she said.
The Many Saints of Newark – which is set 30 years before the events of the original series and explores Tony Soprano’s early years – debuted earlier this month in cinemas and on streaming services.
Chase said previously that if he were to return to The Sopranos world, any potential story would take place after the film, which is set in the late 1960s and 70s, and before the original series, which starts around 1998. “There’s only one way that I would do it, and that was if Terry (Winter) and I could write the script together. That I would do.”
“There’s a lot of stories that exist already because of the mythology, and working with Terry would be great,” Chase also said of the additional film. “He and I in that world again, I think we’d have a good time. I wouldn’t do it on my own, and I would not do it with anybody else.”
Meanwhile, a new book on HBO’s legacy and broad-ranging influence, titled Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, reveals the masturbation scene that caused James Gandolfini to throw his “longest and strongest tantrum” on set.
Read Michael Gandolfini’s full Dazed interview about becoming a young Tony Soprano here.