David Chase intrigued by Sopranos prequel idea

The idea of a prequel to “The Sopranos” intrigues series creator David Chase, but if that were to happen, he envisions it as atypical.

The 69-year old showrunner says he wouldn’t mind exploring the era before the show began.

“Even if I did it, it wouldn’t be ‘The Sopranos’ that was on the air — obviously at least one person is gone that we would need,” he says. “There are a couple of eras that would be interesting for me to talk about, about Newark, N.J. One would be (the) late ‘60s, early ‘70s, about all the racial animosity, or the beginning, the really true beginning of the flood of drugs.”

Sounds good to me, i wouldn't mind if it was more grittier than The Sopranos and even a completely different cast minus Johnny Soprano of course.

I think if it was to be set in his time era, he was featured too often in The Sopranos to go with a different actor.

I'm not sure if the guy who plays Johnny Boy is a good enough actor to hold a star role.. I mean he certainly isn't no James Gandolfini, that much is obvious. It would have to start from scratch with an all-new cast.

It would be interesting as long as it's written well with good story lines. Unlike the Godfather prequel books.

This show would definitely be interesting.. I bet HBO would allow it even though I don't think that Chase would actually do another show. With The Sopranos being over and now no chance of a movie with Gandolfini's death, and Boardwalk Empire ending, they're probably looking for something new in the crime world. Plus, they've done modern day and 1920s/30s era, old west and Game of Thrones times, 60s and 70s would definitely be a nice change. (Also, I agree they would have to start with a whole new cast, not saying Johnny Boy's actor was bad, just not good enough for the top role.)

What about the guy that played John Gotti in GOTTI? I forget his name but I think it was something like "Armand". In any case, Gotti wasn't that great of a movie but the acting was on point for the fairly mediocre script they were given.

Maybe he should move away from NJ and focus on New York? It'd be way easier to show the rise of Carmine Lupertazzi for example, than trying to shoot a full on prequel to the Sopranos. I mean, even if you took it back to the days of Johnny Boy you'd have to recast roles like Paulie walnuts.

That would be Armand Assante that starred in Gotti. Assante is around 65, so that's a bit of a stretch to play a guy who's supposed to be 25-35 years younger.

I'm not a fan of having a prequel. The original series started off as David Chase's life through the Tony Soprano character -- the depression, panic attacks, family dynamics, passive-aggressive mother and angry father -- and took tangents from there. A prequel would lack that original spark of inspiration. For where the timeframe would be, it's an entirely new cast playing the same characters. Not only would there be comparisons of the storylines, but also the actors who play those characters.

There's rumblings about a prequel to "The Wire," and obviously there's the "Better Call Saul" semi-prequel for "Breaking Bad" coming out next year. Going into the last season of "The Wire," there were three or four prequel vignettes, all of which were riddled with continuity errors. We'll see how "Better Call Saul" is, but that might be a novelty and last a season.

To me, all three of the original series are rare gems, and these efforts to create new shows cheapens them.

is he that old now? hard to believe Gotti came out as far back was 1996. I didn't see it until recently (it's on youtube) so I guess I assumed it was a more recent flick.

Bring it on, doubt it will be made though..

It will never happen.

Probably won't happen, but I would love for it to. The Johnny Boy flashbacks were always some of my favorite episodes.

I think that is absolutely an interesting era for a mob movie. Just before RICO, so they were still at the height of their power, but neighborhoods changing, FBI starting to figure out who's who, a time of change and conflict.

I always loved the prequel idea. Let's hope it actually happens. You never know.

Come to think of it, the drug trade was non-existent when it came to Soprano family earnings. There was a dealer kicking up points to Christopher in the first season, and Vito talked about getting into meth trafficking just before he was killed, but that's about it.

Pussy was dealing Heroine, which is how he got popped/flipped but they don't really make any mention of the drug trade at all thereafter from what I recall.

Right, and in that Christmas flashback, both Tony and Jackie were warning him about moving heroin and its risk.

Well and also when Paulie scored that huge take from the Colombian's drug profits. And idk Richie mentions Beanise still selling dime bags in Jefferson Park lol so maybe he used to kick up some drug money.


I too though would enjoy a prequel. Hell any new Soprano related show could be good. Just not an AJ spinoff!

A young Richie Aprile who's still just an associate, or maybe a button... I'd pay some big bucks just to see that.

Perhaps we could see the genesis of "It's da jackeeeeeeeeettttttt," when Richie took the jacket from Rocco DiMeo.

I would kill for this to happen.

The takedown of Feech Lamana's card game, the Jerry Anastasia character, more young Livia and Johnny boy.. and junior playing catch with Tony. ..lmao

Also imagine a young Paulie? Young Richie when he was probably even crazier? Paulie and Johnny Boy busting people up?

Who's Jerry Anastasia? I can't seem to remember.

Jerry Anastasia came up in the first episode of Season 5, where Christopher was griping to Tony about having to pick up the check every time at dinner.

"You pay till I tell you you don't have to pay no more.
And don't give me that face. You know how many tabs, how many dinners I picked up over the years? I got Richie Aprile, fat fucking Jerry Anastasia. Those guys killed me at Benihana's.
And forget it, if they want a steak. I put a new wing on Peter Luger's. Brandy, cigars, champagne. Could've bought a fucking plane."

Ohh, right, good call. I'd like to see Tony's first murder, how he handled it.

I'd like to see what kind of hood Murf Lupo was back in the day.

What I'd like to see is a spin-off about the Lupertazzi family and the rise of Carmine. The DiMeo family could be supporting characters.