Michael Gandolfini Will Play Young Tony
The late, great James Gandolfini’s son is to take on his old man’s most famous role in the prequel movie to HBO’s The Sopranos.
Michael Gandolfini is reported to be “thrilled” to be cast as Tony Soprano in The Many Saints Of Newark, which is currently in development. He added:
“It’s a profound honour to continue my dad’s legacy”
As much as I can’t be bothered with the project in general, this is awesome news. The death of Gandolfini was devastating to friends and fans. He was on holiday with his son in 2013 when he collapsed and died from a heart attack aged only 51.
He played mob boss Tony in the New Jersey-set crime saga, The Sopranos ran for six seasons from 1999 to 2007, putting HBO on the map and set the bar for DVD sales of popular TV shows.
It won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes and in the process made stars of its leading names.
The Sopranos mastermind David Chase has written the script for The Many Saints Of Newark, and Alan Taylor, who directed nine episodes of The Sopranos as well as Thor: The Dark World and Terminator Genisys, will direct. Vera Farmiga, Alessandro Nivola and Jon Bernthal will also star in the film, which is set to the backdrop of the Newark race riots in the 60s.
No word on Bernthal’s character yet, Nivola is playing Dickie Moltisanti. Bernthal’s character is “un-named”, leaving one lead character to be cast, Aldo Moltisanti. Read more about these new characters here.
Son Michael was seen last year as Joey Dwyer in HBO’s The Deuce and also had a small role in Ocean’s Eight.
We’ll bring you more details when we get them.
