The Sopranos Prequel Might Get a Sequel

The upcoming Sopranos prequel film The Many Saints of Newark may already have plans for a sequel. A new report about The Many Saints of Newark and larger plans for the Sopranos franchise reveal as much, as a feature on the prequel film's director, Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World, Terminator: Genisys), comes with the interesting note that Many Saints of Newark: A Sopranos Story is not looking like a one-and-done story of how a young Tony Soprano got the (demented) formative training of a New Jersey mob boss. Thanks to the options available through streaming, this film could be the start of a new branch of the Sopranos franchise.

Here's what THR has to say about the future of The Sopranos, after The Many Saints of Newark releases in theaters and HBO Max in October:

"As important as the film is to the Sopranos legacy, it might not be the last. The story plays a bit like a lavish pilot for a series that doesn't yet exist, and it's easy to imagine HBO Max backing up a sanitation truck full of cash for a Sopranos prequel series."

That isn't just speculation, either: Alan Taylor himself confesses that Sopranos creator David Chase has already indicated that there's more to come:

"David [Chase] said something that sounded like he was talking about [making more content]," Taylor explains. "I said, 'Wait wait, are you talking about a sequel?' And he said, 'Maybe.'"

The trailers for The Many Saints of Newark have left plenty of room for the idea that the film is just dipping its toe into the backstory of Tony Soprano - specifically his relationship with Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola), the legendary gangster who shaped Tony and set up Tony's tragic surrogate father-son relationship with Dickie's son (and Tony's nephew) Christopher Moltisanti. There are still plenty of years to cover about how Tony came up and took control of the New Jersey organized crime world - whether using the same cast from this film in aged-up roles or getting a new cast to take over.

The HBO Max road is especially inviting, as Sopranos fans would definitely appreciate a new series - provided The Many Saints of Newark lives up to the original series' legacy.

The Many Saints of Newark stars Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini, as Tony Soprano. Other characters previously seen in the TV series include Jon Bernthal as Giovanni Francis "Johnny Boy" Soprano, the father of Tony, originally portrayed by Joseph Siravo in six episodes of the HBO drama; Vera Farmiga as Tony's mother, Livia Soprano, taking over from Nancy Marchand; Corey Stoll as Corrado "Junior" Soprano, played by Dominic Chianese in the series; with Billy Magnussen as Paulie "Walnuts" Gualtieri; and John Magaro as Silvio Dante.

The Many Saints of Newark will be in theaters and HBO Max on October 1st.