The Many Saints of Newark Movie Storyline. Young Anthony Soprano is growing up in one of the most tumultuous eras in Newark’s history, becoming a man just as rival gangsters begin to rise up and challenge the all-powerful DiMeo crime family’s hold over the increasingly race-torn city. Caught up in the changing times is the uncle he idolizes, Dickie Moltisanti, who struggles to manage both his professional and personal responsibilities—and whose influence over his nephew will help make the impressionable teenager into the all-powerful mob boss we’ll later come to know: Tony Soprano.
The Many Saints of Newark (marketed with the subtitle A Sopranos Story) is an upcoming American crime drama film directed by Alan Taylor and written by David Chase and Lawrence Konner as a prequel to Chase’s HBO crime drama series The Sopranos.
The film stars Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, and Vera Farmiga. Set in the 1960s and 1970s in Newark, New Jersey, using the 1967 riots in the city as a backdrop for tensions between the Italian-American and African-American communities, the film follows the teenage years of Tony Soprano in the midst of a violent gang war his family is involved in.
New Line Cinema obtained the rights to produce The Many Saints of Newark alongside HBO Films. Warner Bros. Pictures was to initially release the film on September 25, 2020, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, its release date was rescheduled to October 1, 2021, as well as a month-long simultaneous release on the HBO Max streaming service.
Principal photography began in Brooklyn on April 3, 2019, moved to Newark on May 7, and wrapped in June 2019. Branford Place, a street in Newark, was transformed to fit the 1960s time period for the riots, including detailed storefronts, the old Adams Theatre marquee, and the retro neon sign for Hobby’s Delicatessen. Luther Engler, a retired Newark police officer, served as a technical adviser for the film. Filming also took place in Bloomfield. Satriale’s Pork Store, which was featured in The Sopranos, was recreated in Paterson. The production returned for re-shoots in September 2020.
The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Leslie Odom Jr, Jon Bernthal, Corey Stoll, Michael Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Vera Farmiga, Marianne Ferrari, Melina Lanza, Victoria Giardina
Screenplay by: David Chase, Lawrence Konner
Production Design by: Bob Shaw
Cinematography by: Kramer Morgenthau
Film Editing by: Christopher Tellefsen
Costume Design by: Amy Westcott
Set Decoration by: Regina Graves, Marina Parker
Art Direction by: Laura Ballinger, Deborah Jensen
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, pervasive language, sexual content and some nudity.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: October 1, 2021 (United States)
Visits: 63
