While the reviews for “The Many Saints of Newark” haven’t been as glowing as the reviews for “The Sopranos” TV series, most people can agree that Michael Gandolfini is good in his role as a young Tony Soprano in the film. So, perhaps there’s room for yet another ‘Sopranos’ prequel in the future? The actor is open to the idea, but he thinks the clock is definitely ticking on when it’s appropriate.
Speaking to UPROXX, Michael Gandolfini talked a lot about taking over the role that his father, James Gandolfini, made so popular on “The Sopranos.” However, when asked if he would be willing to do another prequel film after ‘Many Saints,’ the actor expresses the concern that he might age out of the role sooner than people understand because he doesn’t want to come to close to the era of Tony Soprano that his dad made legendary.
“This is such an incredible character and incredible group of actors and incredible filmmakers that I learned so much,” Gandolfini said. “This is going to jump to the priority to get to work with David [Chase, ‘Sopranos’ creator] or anyone again. But I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony. I think it there’s an interesting part after this movie, before the show, that we can explore something about Tony that hasn’t been explored, in his youth, in his 20s. After that, we’re getting a little too old. My dad really explored and David explored everything about that. So is there a time limit around other movies? No, not so much. But the older I get, there is a cutoff where it just naturally goes into the show.”
Obviously, talking about sequels to ‘Many Saints’ is a bit of putting the cart before the horse. The prequel film has yet to hit theaters and HBO Max and may not be the hit that Warner Bros. is hoping it’ll be. That said, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding the film, which is the first official piece of ‘Sopranos’ lore since the series ended so many years ago. And there’s a lot of positive sentiment towards Michael taking over the role from his father. So, who knows? Perhaps more prequels can actually happen.
“The Many Saints of Newark” arrives in theaters and HBO Max on October 1.