Are We Getting a New 'Sopranos' Movie or Series?
David Chase and the studio are looking for an offer they can't refuse.
After the debut of The Many Saints of Newark, audiences everywhere were foaming at the mouth for more of anything from The Sopranos world. We heard rumors we'd get a new limited series, and about more Sopranos movies.
Turns out, both were true. While the movie only did a little over $11 million at the box office, HBOMax has indicated it was a monster on streaming.
That led to conversations between show creator David Chase and HBO about how to move forward with other stories in this world.
“Well, of course, the movie didn’t do well in theaters, but it, like, broke the machine on streaming—it was huge,” Chase said.
He went on to describe the struggle with the studio and their vision of what comes next, saying, “So now they want me to do another series of Sopranos from the time the movie ends until the time the series begins. I’m not that anxious to do it. I would do one more movie. Yeah. Because I have an idea for that that I’d like to do. But I don’t think they want that.”
Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff told Deadline, “We’re thrilled with the results of Many Saints. Yes, the box office was not quite as big, but back again to the demographics of who’s going to theaters. On the other hand, you see Sopranos pop into the top 10 of the most viewed series on the service. It’s given it an entirely new life. We’re talking to David about a new series Sopranos-related on HBO Max. [The movie] literally lifted the Sopranos franchise in a new way, so you can’t measure it in and of itself in the box office.”
It's going to be interesting to see how these two parties move forward on any kind of Sopranos material.
While movies seem like what Chase wants, an ongoing series would be extremely noisy for HBOMax and gather them the subscriber base they want. Maybe there's an agreement to be made. They could day-and-date those movies or put them directly on the app. Give them a three-movie deal and roll them out over both.
But hypotheticals like this don't solve anything. If the appetite to make more Sopranos stuff is there, then HBO should work with Chase. It would be a missed opportunity not to lean into such a celebrated story and with such a talented writer yearning to do more.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
