The Many Saints of Newark

In 1967, a young Tony Soprano accompanies his mentor, Dickie Moltisanti, to welcome home Dickie's father, Aldo "Hollywood Dick" Moltisanti, and his new Italian bride, Giuseppina. Dickie is a soldier in the DiMeo crime family, which also includes Tony's father Johnny, a capo, and fellow soldiers such as Johnny's brother Corrado (nicknamed "Junior") and Lino Bonpensiero (nicknamed "Buddha"), as well as associates such as Hollywood Dick, Silvio Dante, Paulie Gualtieri, and Lino's son Salvatore (nicknamed "Pussy"). After white police officers assault and rob a black taxi driver, riots break out in Newark. Watching from outside the Playland amusement park, Tony witnesses cops arresting Johnny and Junior, thus interrupting an illegal card game they were participating in. Johnny is eventually sentenced to four years in Rahway State Prison for engaging in assault with a deadly weapon during the riots. During an argument, Hollywood Dick kicks Giuseppina down a flight of stairs. Upon discovering the incident, Dickie murders him before transporting the corpse to his father's Atta Boy Drainage Supply warehouse and committing arson, burning both the body and the building. Regretting the murder, Dickie visits his uncle Salvatore ("Sally"), his father's twin brother who is serving life in prison for killing another made man in his own family, and inherits Giuseppina as his comare. Tony is suspended from school for running a gambling operation, and Dickie makes Tony pinkie promise him to be on his best behavior in the future. Sometime later, Harold McBrayer, one of his black associates, visits him, planning to escape to North Carolina following a murder warrant for killing a looter named Leon Overall during the riots and receiving $500 from Dickie as a parting gift. Four years later, Johnny is released from prison and at a welcoming back party, he and the rest of his family are introduced to Christopher, the toddler son of Dickie, now a capo, and his wife Joanne. Simultaneously, Harold returns to Newark to form a black criminal family. Giuseppina commences a romantic affair with Harold after arguing with Dickie. After Harold kills one of Dickie's men, Giulio "Julie" DeRogatis, and steals his extortion money, Dickie, Pussy, Paulie, and Silvio question Harold's lieutenant, Cyril, and torture him with an impact wrench before Silvio shoots him dead. Harold and his gang then retaliatorily kill Buddha in a drive-by shootout with Johnny's crew. Harold and Dickie engage in a standoff, but both men disperse upon hearing police sirens. After Tony steals the answers for his geometry exam, the school guidance counselor Mrs. Jarecki tells Tony's mother Livia that he has a high Stanford–Binet IQ and the Myers–Briggs personality traits of a leader. She relates how Tony told her about a time in which his mother hugged him and read him a book about Sutter's Mill, which he considered one of his best memories. Livia attempts to show Tony affection, but mentions how her physician, Dr. Cuomo, recommended antidepressants, antagonizing Tony when he suggests that she take them. Outside Buddha's wake, Tony asks a hesitant Dickie if he could get Elavil for his mother. After Junior slips on the mortuary steps in the pouring rain and fractures his hip, Dickie mockingly laughs uproariously in his face, infuriating him. Dickie reconnects with Giuseppina and promises to finance a beauty parlor for her to manage. During a beachside stroll, she confesses to her romantic affair with Harold; enraged, Dickie drowns her in the ocean. He revisits Sally, who warns that everyone close to Dickie ultimately perishes, and advises him to distance himself from Tony. Heeding Sally's advice, Dickie intentionally begins avoiding Tony, declining to visit him or answer his calls. One night, a distressed Tony throws the speakers Dickie gave him out his window, startling his father. Later on, Silvio encourages Dickie to reconcile with Tony, and Dickie relents. Before he can arrive home, Dickie is assassinated by an unknown assailant on Junior's orders. At Dickie's wake, Joanne reveals to Livia that Dickie acquired the Elavil for Tony and was carrying it in his pocket when he was murdered. Tony sadly surveys Dickie's corpse and imagines doing another pinkie promise with him, like the two had done years before. Sometime later, Harold relocates to a white neighborhood. ==Cast==

Other notable appearances include Lesli Margherita as Iris Balducci, Kathryn Kates as Angie DeCarlo, Nick Vallelonga as Carmine Cotuso, Daryl Edwards as Julius, and Ed Marinaro as Jilly Ruffalo. Robert Vincent Montano and Matteo Russo play Artie Bucco at varying ages, Chase Vacnin portrays the teenage Jackie Aprile, Oberon K.A. Adjepong plays Frank Lucas, and Lauren DiMario plays the teenage Carmela De Angelis, Tony's future wife. ==Production==

Development in 2015 The origins of what ultimately took shape as The Many Saints of Newark happened when David Chase finished film school, having the idea of making a film about four white men living around Newark, New Jersey, who joined the National Guard to avoid being drafted to serve in the Vietnam War only to be sent instead to the 1967 Newark riots, though the film went unproduced. Following the release of The Sopranos, it was suggested by Oz creator Tom Fontana that Chase write a film centered on Tony Soprano's father Giovanni "Johnny Boy" Soprano set in the 1930s or 1940s. The idea eventually fell aside due to Chase's lack of interest. Chase ruled out the idea of continuing The Sopranos story in June 2017, while simultaneously expressing an interest in a prequel to the series. He had earlier been against the idea of making a film based on The Sopranos, especially a sequel to the series, given James Gandolfini's death in 2013, but became interested in Newark due to the 1967 Newark riots and his family ties to the city: "I was interested in Newark and life in Newark at that time ... I used to go to down there every Saturday night for dinner with my grandparents. But the thing that interested me most was Tony's boyhood. I was interested in exploring that", acknowledging that a prequel film could explore the period of Tony's life that he glorified in the show's early episodes. In March 2018, New Line Cinema announced that it purchased the rights to produce the film along with HBO Films, with Chase co-writing the screenplay with Lawrence Konner. New Line's chairman, Toby Emmerich, stated, "David is a masterful storyteller and we, along with our colleagues at HBO, are thrilled that he has decided to revisit, and enlarge, the Soprano universe in a feature film". Chase offered Taylor the opportunity to direct the film one day while they lunched together, feeling that Taylor had worked on the show's best episodes and had given him "the most trouble". In contrast to the show, Taylor felt that Chase allowed more creative control over the film than when he ran the show, as Chase spent most of the time outlining the story sequestered in the writer's room. Dickie never appeared in the show despite being mentioned, though Chase did not have any plans to feature the character physically then. Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll and Billy Magnussen were added to the cast that same month. Michael Gandolfini, son of James Gandolfini, was cast in the role of young Tony. He was not immediately cast and had to audition for the role, but Taylor and Chase felt that they were right in casting him when Gandolfini thanked all the production team for allowing him to "say hello and goodbye again" to his father. To keep Gandolfini's performance from being too similar to that of his father, Taylor occasionally reshot a scene if Gandolfini acted like he were already an experienced gangster, as the young Tony is "still a kid" during the film. with Leslie Odom Jr. and Michela De Rossi joining in March, as well as John Magaro, who starred in Chase's debut feature film Not Fade Away (2012). Liotta had been previously approached by Chase to appear in the third or fourth seasons of The Sopranos, but the plan did not work out. Edie Falco filmed scenes as her character Carmela Soprano which were intended to start the film, but her scenes were cut. Taylor explained, "There was some confusion as to how best launch the movie. How to start the movie. So we tried a few things and that was one of them. If you've seen the movie you'll see that we begin it in a very different way now but that wasn't always the idea". Filming Principal photography began in Brooklyn on April 3, 2019, moved to Newark on May 7, and wrapped up in June 2019, with a $50 million budget. Retired Newark police officer Luther Engler served as a technical adviser for the film. Satriale's Pork Store was featured in The Sopranos and was recreated in Paterson. Planned reshoots were halted upon the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the filmmakers shot some aspects that improved the film's story. To accurately depict the riots, Taylor directly recreated some of the film shots from archival photos and footage of the event. During post-production, there were discussions about whether the film's depiction of the Newark riots would still seem appropriate in the wake of the George Floyd protests, but Taylor concluded that the film's treatment of the riots would avoid controversy. Christopher Tellefsen worked as the film's editor. The editing process took longer than expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the film industry, though Taylor felt that the extended period helped him and Chase to discuss what the film's final cut would consist of. ==Release==

The film was initially scheduled to be released on September 25, 2020. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on theaters and the film industry, its release date was rescheduled to March 12, 2021. It was delayed again to September 24, 2021, so it could premiere on the film festival circuit and better position itself as an awards contender, before later moving to October 1. The film was simultaneously released in theaters and on HBO Max, for a limited period of 31 days, as part of the 2021 Warner Bros. film release schedule plans. The film had its world premiere at the inaugural Tribeca Fall Preview at the Beacon Theatre on September 22, 2021, the same date as the film's early release in the United Kingdom. The film was released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and DVD on December 21, 2021. Special features include deleted scenes and two featurettes–"Making of Newark" and "Sopranos Family Honor". It debuted at the 33rd position for overall disc sales in the United States according to the "NPD VideoScan First Alert" chart, and the 18th position in Blu-ray sales. Blu-ray accounted for 60% of sales, with traditional Blu-ray making up 48% of the sales and Ultra HD Blu-ray making up 12%. ==Reception==

Box office The Many Saints of Newark grossed $8.2million in the United States and Canada, and $4.8million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $13.1million. The film made $2.1 million on its first day, and debuted to $5 million, finishing fourth at the box office. Following its less-than-expected opening weekend, Variety wrote that the film "stands to lose millions". The film dropped 69% in its second weekend to $1.9 million, finishing fifth. Streaming viewership The Many Saints of Newark was a streaming success. It outperformed similarly budgeted films such as Reminiscence and Cry Macho that were released on HBO Max, with WarnerMedia stating that it was streamed three times more than the second-most viewed film of the weekend. The Sopranos broke HBO Max viewership records around the time of the film's release, attributed to The Many Saints of Newark sparking renewed interest in the series. By the end of its first month, the film had been streamed in more than 2.1 million households in the United States. During its second week of availability on HBO Max, the film was the eighth most-streamed film in the United States, according to TV Time. Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads, "Even as its storytelling chafes at the edges of its cinematic constraints, The Many Saints of Newark proves The Sopranos allure is still powerful." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 48 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 77% positive score, with 60% saying they would definitely recommend it. In a positive review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Richard Roeper called the film "a sharply honed, darkly funny, ultra-violent and wildly entertaining late 1960s period piece" and an "immensely satisfying companion piece to The Sopranos", giving it 3.5 stars out of 4. Owen Gleiberman of Variety called Many Saints "a sharp, lively, and engrossing movie, one that provides a fascinating running commentary on how the world of The Sopranos came into being" but noted "[the audience] can't help but notice the difference in tone" when compared to the series. David Fear of Rolling Stone said in his review "Chase has delivered something that walks the tightrope between social melodrama and fan service, and that sometimes teeters on the edge of falling." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called the film "a busy, unnecessary, disappointingly ordinary origin story" and said that "the best thing about The Many Saints of Newark is that it makes you think about The Sopranos, but that's also the worst thing about it." Reviewing the film for RogerEbert.com, Glenn Kenny gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars and said: "The movie's flabbiness, its unfocused flopping from scene to scene, its disinclination to provide any individual scene with any dimension beyond its immediate impact, practically vitiates the entire theme of Dickie's ostensible mentorship of Tony Soprano." Richard Brody of The New Yorker wrote: "The Many Saints of Newark, by contrast, reduces characters of potentially mythic power to a handful of defining traits and pins them to a diorama-like backdrop of historical readymades." ==Possible sequel==

Chase has expressed interest in producing a sequel to The Many Saints of Newark which follows Tony Soprano in his 20s, provided that he could collaborate with former Sopranos writer Terence Winter. Upon hearing this, Winter replied that he would do it "in a heartbeat. Absolutely." Chase revealed that he received an offer from WarnerMedia to produce another season of The Sopranos which bridged the gap between the end of the film and the beginning of the original series, but admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that he was not especially interested in making such a series. He noted that he wished to make one more film set in The Sopranos universe because he had an idea of what he might do, adding: "But I don't think they want that." == References ==