Everything Sopranos Obsessives Need To Know About Prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark’

Everything Sopranos Obsessives Need To Know About Prequel ‘The Many Saints of Newark’
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Oh, Madonn. It’s finally here. The long-awaited prequel to (the best show of all time) The Sopranos; feature film The Many Saints of Newark.

For anyone who has been desperately waiting for this film, we’ve pulled together a list of insights into what you need to know about the film and where you can find it when it’s out.

The Many Saints of Newark trailer

On June 30, we were treated to the first trailer for The Many Saints of Newark and personally, it sent chills up my spine. You can watch it for yourself, below.

Fast forward to September 9, and a fresh new trailer has landed in our laps. The clip gives us a little more insight into the lead characters in this film – namely, Dickie Moltisanti, (played by Alessandro Nivola), baby Tony Soprano (played by Michael Gandolfini), Livia Soprano (played by Vera Farmiga), Harold McBreaer (played by Leslie Odom Jr.) and Hollywood Dick (played by Ray Liotta).

We also see a glimpse of baby Christopher, too. Give it a watch here:

Tell me the line, “I wanna do a good deed,” didn’t instantly capture you.

What is The Many Saints of Newark?

The Many Saints of Newark plot. HBO
The Many Saints of Newark plot. Credit: Warner Bros.

This feature film covers the formative years of future New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, and is set to give fans a look into his family life (hello, mother Livia); his goals as a teenager and the way in which he is first brought into the – capital B – Business.

In saying that, however, Sopranos creator David Chase stressed that the film is not just about Tony Soprano.

“The movie was not set up as a Tony Soprano origin story,” he told Rolling Stone.

“It was a story about Dickie Moltisanti and it still is. It’s a gangster movie. It’s about gangsters in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s in New Jersey — both Black and white.”

Directed by Alan Taylor and written by Lawrence Konner (a former Sopranos writer) and David Chase (who created The Sopranos), this film is slated to be the next great instalment for the series that changed television forever.

As the Sydney Morning Herald writes, this prequel film will set The Sopranos and its gangsters up against the likes of Michael Corleone and Henry Hill on the big screen – and fans are pretty damn excited about that.

More on the production here.

Who is in it?

The Many Saints of Newark cast. HBO
The Many Saints of Newark cast. Credit: Warner Bros.

The cast for this film is pretty stacked.

The Many Saints of Newark stars Alessandro Nivola (Disobedience, American Hustle), Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr. (Broadway’s Hamilton, Murder on the Orient Express), Jon Bernthal (Baby Driver, The Wolf of Wall Street), Corey Stoll (First Man, Ant-Man), Michael Gandolfini (TV’s The Deuce), Billy Magnussen (Game Night, The Big Short), Michela De Rossi (Boys Cry, TV’s The Rats), John Magaro (The Finest Hours, Not Fade Away), with Emmy winner Ray Liotta (TV’s Shades of Blue, Goodfellas) and Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air, The Conjuring).

If you’re wondering, yes Michael Gandolfini is the son of late Sopranos star James Gandolfini.

Universal has released a collection of character posters to give you some more insight into the world of The Many Saints of Newark.

The Many Saints of Newark
Image supplied: NBC Universal

The Many Saints of Newark
Image supplied: NBC Universal

The Many Saints of Newark
Image supplied: NBC Universal

Image supplied: NBC Universal

Image supplied: NBC Universal

What’s the release date for The Many Saints of Newark?

As with just about every other film you’ve been excited about in 2020/2021, The Many Saints of Newark has had its release date delayed. The film was originally slated for a September drop, but is now set for a cinema release date of November 4, 2021, in Australia.

As Deadline reports, Tribeca Enterprises has announced it will debut its Tribeca Fall Preview season with The Many Saints of Newark’s world premiere on September 22.

If you’re wondering whether Aussies will be given the opportunity to stream the film from home at the time of its release, the answer is… well, not really. The Many Saints of Newark will simultaneously release in the U.S to cinemas and HBO Max on October 1 (October 2, Australian time), but is only headed to cinemas in Australia.

While HBO Max is not available in Australia, those with a VPN may be able to land themselves the ability to stream the film from home. As our friends at Gizmodo have reported, VPN options for HBO Max include NordVPNSurfsharkPureVPN and ExpressVPN. Check out their write up for details on how to set up a subscription from Australia.

Is the movie worth my time?

The film has begun receiving reviews and the response has been kind of mixed. Presently Rotten Tomatoes lists the films Audience Rating at 59 per cent and the Critic Tomatometer is sitting at 73 per cent.

Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe wrote that “The movie was, to borrow an image from the ‘Pine Barrens’ episode, like sucking ketchup packets.”

So, yeah. Not great.

On the other hand, however, Beth Sullivan of the Austin Chronicle shared a less brutal opinion, “I walked out of the theatre wishing for a limited TV series rather than a movie. Although The Many Saints of Newark offers an alluring glimpse into Tony Soprano’s birth under a bad sign, it never shows the blue moon in the mobster’s eyes”.

Guess you’ll have to give it a watch and decide for yourself.

How do I watch The Sopranos series itself?

Lucky for you, The Sopranos has been brought into the world of streaming services, so you can refresh your memory on all the chaos of the original series at home. You can find The Sopranos on Binge.

In the interim, please enjoy this compilation of eys and ohs from the original series.

This article has been updated since its original publish date to reflect release date changes and where to stream The Sopranos in Australia. 


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At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

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