David Chase’s untitled rock ‘n’ roll coming-of-age tale formerly titled “The Twilight Zones” is now beginning to take shape and gear up for a January production start next year in New York.
After searching far andwide for his leads, Chase has settled with the relatively unknown trio of John Magaro, Will Brill and Jack Huston — grandson of John and nephew of Danny and Angelica — who’ll presumably play the leading members of a group of suburban New Jersey guys making their way in the ’60s as a band called The Twilight Zones.
Early casting calls also revealed the trio to be from very different upbringings: one a high school student of Italian-American descent, one an artistic, intelligent, upper class guitarist and lastly an athletic and unpredictable small town “King Rocker.”
Also joining the project will be Chase’s ‘Sopranos’ star and E Street Band member Steve Van Zandt. The actor-musician, of course, played Tony Soprano’s right hand man Silvio Dante in Chase’s iconic HBO series and will now reunite with the director as an executive producer and music supervisor.
“I am thrilled to be working with Steven again, especially on this particular subject,” Chase said of Van Zandt, who himself grew up in the Jersey music scene and went to co-produce Springsteen’s albums, The River and Born In The U.S.A. “It’s not just that we both worship the same songs and bands from the era, it’s that he obviously knows so much. About every aspect. He embodies a particular spirit of a particular kind of rock ‘n’ roll. He actually is that spirit.”
Considering Chase’s stellar incorporation of music on ‘Sopranos,’ Zandt’s own musical experiences and the young up and coming cast, this project is shaping up quite nicely. Paramount Vantage will release the film which has Mark Johnson (“Rain Man”) as a producer.
