HBO has really done a lot for the gangster genre, between The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire. However, in the future, there may be room at the subscription cable network or elsewhere for Sopranos creator David Chase to push out a prequel series to the popular HBO drama, set in a slightly different era.
Ever since The Sopranos aired its epic and widely discussed series finale back in 2007, rumors have persisted about a possible movie or prequel series. As recently as 2012, Chase has said he’d love to do a project about Tony’s parents and Uncle Junior in the early days, and a couple of years later, the timeline may still fit. Here’s what Chase had to say to the AP about a prequel.
“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. 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.”
This time around, Chase made no mention of familiar characters popping up in that environment, but the timeline could definitely work out, depending on what direction he would want to take the potential series in.
Unfortunately, there are no current plans for Chase to pick up The Sopranos’ mantle and move forward with a prequel idea. But the good news is the writer, producer and occasional director still has a prequel to his most famous series on the brain. And if his brain is still churning over what a prequel could be about and when it would be set, that means it isn’t dead yet, just dormant. Maybe, like the recently revived Twin Peaks, it will eventually get off the ground.
Obviously with James Gandolfini gone and the rest of the cast, including Steven Van Zandt and Edie Falco, moving on to other projects, catching up with the Soprano family wouldn’t work—even considering what Chase has had to say about that controversial final episode. The question is whether or not Chase should revisit the mafia once more, at all.
While the prequel isn’t off the ground, yet, if you want to rewatch The Sopranos, the Complete Series is out on Blu-ray for the first time this week.
