Exclusive: Alan Taylor on directing The Many Saints Of Newark, the Sopranos prequel
Coming out this week from New Line Cinema is “The Many Saints of Newark,” the much-anticipated feature film prequel to the groundbreaking, award-winning HBO drama series “The Sopranos.” The film hits theaters and HBO Max on October 1.
The film is set in the explosive 1960s in the era of the Newark riots, when the African-American and Italian communities are often at each other’s throats. But among the gangsters within each group, the dangerous rivalry becomes especially lethal.
Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities—and whose influence over his nephew will help make the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we’ll later come to know: Tony Soprano.
“The Many Saints of Newark” stars Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltisanti, the father of Michael Imperioli’s original-series Christopher Moltisanti, Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll as Junior Soprano, Michael Gandolfini as young Tony Soprano, Billy Magnussen as Paulie Walnuts, Michela De Rossi, Patina Miller, John Magaro as Silvio Dante, with Emmy winner Ray Liotta and Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga .
Alan Taylor (“Thor: The Dark World”), who won an Emmy for his directing work on “The Sopranos,” is helming the film from a screenplay by series creator David Chase & Lawrence Konner, based on characters created by Chase.
“The Many Saints of Newark” was shot on location in New Jersey and New York, and several beloved characters from the original series that inspired the film are featured in the movie. During its six-season run, “The Sopranos”—widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential television drama series of all time—was honored with 21 Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and two Peabody Awards, to name only a portion.
BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales recently spoke with Taylor on directing this film, bringing in his experience from working with David Chase and including the Race Riots from that era.
