The Sopranos was a defining mobster show on HBO that everyone was talking about for six seasons from 1999 – 2007. It tracked the eponymous crime boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) as he delicately balanced work and family commitments.

His love of family was reinforced when Tony was heartbroken after the ducklings who moved into the Sopranos’ swimming pool flew away. And let’s not forget the grand finale which ended mid sentence – it confused, irritated, and delighted critics and audiences alike. The Sopranos creator David Chase and episode writer Lawrence Konner (both of whom won Emmys for their work on the show) finally reunited to create another gangster show set in New Jersey. They spoke with Creative Screenwriting Magazine about their intentions for The Many Saints Of Newark which has already created a new generation of Sopranos fans.

David Chase

“When the series was over, I didn’t have any interest in making any kind of Sopranos sequel,” said Chase. Apart from a few projects since, David Chase recollected his collective energies for many years.

When James Gandolfini sadly passed away in 2013 at age 51, the likelihood of a sequel was further diminished. (Gandolfini’s haunting voice was heard from the great beyond on Many Saints to remind audiences of his stature.)

Toby Emmerich, Chairman of Newline Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures repeatedly asked Chase to consider a Sopranos movie over the years – an offer Chase repeatedly rejected. However, the creative kernels were buried in his creative subconscious. Around 2018, Sopranos co-writer Lawrence Konner appealed to Chase’s interest in the Newark riots of 1967. This sparked his imagination when the powerful DiMeo crime family was challenged by rival Italian-American and Black gangs. All this catered to David Chase’s love of the genre. It was the entrance to The Many Saints Of Newark. It was also the only way to depict Tony Soprano’s formative years when he was most impressionable so audiences could understand who made him.

Although there are new characters introduced into The Many Saints Of Newark, Chase and Konner deliberately didn’t solely focus on making this a “Young Anthony” film. It was a film about Newark. They wanted to explore what life was like there during the unsettling period of the 60s and 70s. They were resolute in not making a prequel, sequel or spinoff to The Sopranos, despite the parallels. They were squarely focused on depicting the life of mobsters. “Young Tony was our eyes into that world,” said Konner.

Writing The Newark Ensemble

Creating an ensemble piece of such magnitude required substantial planning. “We always wanted to reappraise the main characters of the original cast,” said Konner. That was the easy part even if many of them ended up dead.

Chase grew up in New York, but his family reflected the lives of the Italian-American community in Newark where many still live. “After the [New York] riots many people moved to the leafy suburbs of Newark,” said Chase. “My mother used to take me there to buy Italian food and go shopping. Most of my aunts and uncles lived there and I based a lot of dialogue off them.”

Lawrence Konner

There are many saints in Newark to keep track of, but the main relationship in the film was centered around Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) and his uncle Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola) who influenced his evolution the most. Tony’s father was in prison for great stretches and Uncle Dickie was childless until later in life, so he treated Tony as his protégé and surrogate son. “He also felt he could protect him from the brutish Johnny [Soprano] (Jon Bernthal),” said Chase. Curiously, Dickie reminded David Chase of one of his uncles who was crazy about him and showed him a lot.

Uncle Dickie was referenced in The Sopranos, but The Many Saints Of Newark allowed Chase and Konner to explore him more fully. “Dickie was a hero, he was talked about in a way that made him seem very special, beloved, and tough,” said Chase. He’s the father of Christoper Moltisanti (Michael Imperioli) who features heavily in both.

As an adult, “Tony Soprano talked about Dickie a lot… what he gave him and what he was owed,” said Chase. “Even as a kid, Tony was a charming, intelligent little boy,” said Konner. Although there were a few flashbacks, the majority of Young Tony’s character was built during the development The Many Saints Of Newark rather than referring to notes from The Sopranos days.

The gangster film genre is fairly masculine – full of tough guys taking no shit. The Many Saints Of Newark prides itself on its fully realized female characters with their own agency. Livia, Tony’s mother, is essentially a single-mom trying to do right by Tony. Giuseppina Moltisanti (Michela De Rossi), Dickie’s wife, has ambition. She learns English and wants to open her own beauty salon.  These strong female characters were David’s major contribution to the film.

“That’s why we wanted to explore Tony’s relationship with his mother Livia Soprano (Vera Farmiga) and how she acted as his foundation,” said Konner.

In a fortuitous sequence of real-life events, Michael Gandolfini (James’ actual son) played teenage Tony Soprano in the film (younger Tony was played by William Ludwig). “We were reading other actors for the role and we weren’t having much luck at all,” lamented Konner. “It [Michael’s involvement all started from a previous lunch we had where he stated he wanted to be an actor. He read a quarter of a page of the script. Something told me that it had to be him… It was going to be him,” he continued.

Teenage Tony Soprano (Michael Gandolfini) & Dickie Moltisanti (Alessandro Nivola). Photo by Barry Wetcher/ Warner Bros.

“As soon as he walked into the auditions, I felt the presence of his father’s DNA,” said Konner. “You could see it without talking. He wasn’t even trying to act like his father.”

I think the attraction to gangster movies has something to do with a lack of constraint and lack of following the rules. It’s about making your own rules. Society is a bunch of suckers. – Lawrence Konner

There is something uniquely alluring to crime bosses to audiences. “It’s very attractive seeing gangsters behave how they want,” said Konner. “You don’t have to call your wife at midnight to tell her you won’t be home and give her some excuse.” It’s like cowboys who can be by themselves and be the masters of their own destinies. Rules are for others.

“Gangsters also don’t take any shit from the establishment,” added Chase. Ironically, many gangsters are squashed by the establishment in the end.