David Chase Didn’t Like The Many Saints of Newark’s First Cut

The Sopranos‘ Emmy-winning creator David Chase reveals he wasn’t happy with The Many Saints of Newark‘s first cut, the prequel to his hit series. Chase has been ruminating on the prequel film in the years since the conclusion of the HBO drama, originally considering an idea to center on Tony Soprano’s unseen father Giovanni “Johnny Boy” Soprano before losing interest in the concept. After ruling out a sequel to The Sopranos, partly due to star James Gandolfini’s death in 2013, he would finally set his eyes on a story set in Newark during the 1967 riots.

This concept would then become The Many Saints of Newark, which chronicles the violent gang war happening in the New Jersey city through the perspectives of Dickie Moltisanti and a teenage Tony Soprano, with Michael Gandolfini taking over the latter role from his father. Chase would partner with Sopranos veteran writer Lawrence Konner and director Alan Taylor for the project, with New Line Cinema and HBO Films acquiring the rights in early 2018. Though The Many Saints of Newark had this core team of creatives, it wasn’t without its problems during the production process.

While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, Chase opened up about some of the struggles of making The Many Saints of Newark. When asked about the reshoots that occurred for the film, Chase revealed he was upset with the first cut of the film, which deviated from his and Konner’s script, and how they helped fix the film. See what Chase said below:

“I didn’t like the movie. I know [the scenes from reshoots made the movie better]. I mean, I saw the difference.”

The Many Saints of Newark‘s director Taylor has previously opened up about the challenges in making the film, namely suiting it to Chase’s vision. Many stars from the original series, as well as Chase himself, have discussed how his rigidity to staying true to his scripts earned him some disdain from the cast and crew during shooting The Sopranos, with Gandolfini even barely talking to Chase by the final season. While it’s unclear what deviations were being made from the film’s script during production, Taylor’s previous discussions of being allotted more creative freedom for the film points to the director making some decisions the creator didn’t agree with.

Even if The Many Saints of Newark‘s first cut didn’t resonate with Chase, the final cut would at least sit well with critics as the film scored generally positive reviews from critics upon release. Though this positive reception may not have translated to a box office smash, The Many Saints of Newark would becoming an HBO Max streaming hit and leave the door open for Chase to continue the franchise however he sees fit. In the meantime, audiences can watch The Sopranos on HBO Max now.

Source: THR

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Grant Hermanns
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Grant Hermanns is a News Writer, Interviewer and Hiring Manager for Screen Rant, having joined the team in early 2021. Way back in 2015 while still in his college days, Grant got his start in the entertainment journalism industry with creator-friendly site Moviepilot until it shuttered nearly three years later. From there he joined the staff at ComingSoon.net and was its Associate Editor prior to coming over to Screen Rant.

To say he’s a lover of film and television would be an understatement and when he’s not mass consuming either you can find him exploring the world of Dungeons & Dragons with friends or slowly making his way through his gaming backlog.

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