david chase Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Sorry we missed this earlier, but during that same press tour mentioned in the Sex and the City sequel post, Michael Lombardo (president of HBO's programming group) also said that HBO would be interested in a Sopranos film if David Chase is willing. The comments came about during an announcement that Martin Scorsese, Sopranos exec producer Terence Winter and the Entourage team of Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson will get behind a new series called Boardwalk Express, about the birth of organized crime in Atlantic City during the 1920s.

It's no surprise HBO is looking to head back to the land of organized crime, and of course they'd be behind a feature film based on The Sopranos -- especially after seeing the damage done by Sex and the City at the box office. But David Chase seems to have put this show behind him, and I personally think a feature film would be too much of a stretch. As is, the show gave us one of the best endings in the history of television -- don't go futzing that up just because you all want to make some more money. Let it go. I'm sure this Boardwalk Express -- with all the talent behind it -- will quench your thirst for more mafia. But maybe I'm in the minority.

Do you really want a Sopranos movie?

David Chase, the creator of The Sopranos -- you know, the greatest television show of all time -- has signed on to write, produce, and direct his first feature film, for Paramount Pictures. Calm down, fans of Tony and the gang -- this will not be a Sopranos flick. In fact, Deadline Hollywood Daily doesn't have much about the movie at all, other than that it's "an original drama," and that Brad Grey, Chase's Sopranos producing partner and CEO of Paramount, brought him on board. Chase says of their relationship: "Brad has always been adventurous as a producer and looked for different ways of doing things. I look forward to once again working with him, and now his team. For years, Brad has been a great partner, who helped enable me to do what I need to creatively."

Returning the love, Grey says "David is one of the great storytellers of our time, and his debut as a filmmaker is both highly anticipated and long overdue." I second that! "In truth, David has been creating cinematic-quality filmed drama for more than a decade – spanning nine seasons and 86 episodes of The Sopranos. Having worked with David as a producer, I'm delighted to be with him again and to bring his unique vision to the big screen." The Sopranos indeed delivered an hour-long movie each week, and each was better than 99% of films. I simply can not wait. And with the Sex and the City movie likely to be a big hit, here's hoping Chase can be talked into dropping that Sopranos movie on us and making my life worthwhile again.

Hell ... what if this "original drama" is the Sopranos movie and they're trying to keep it secret? There have been rumors swirling lately, and I don't stop believin'.

We're not going to overload you with writers strike news because it's shaping up to be a marathon, not a race. Here are some delicious new updates (including a video up top which uses colorful little pie charts to help better explain the writer's point of view):

Day 4. The rebels have set up a new base on planet New York City, and when a young Jedi by the name of Robin Williams shows up with free bagels, folks begin to question his loyalty ...

Yes, the celebs were out in full force today showing Los Angeles that New York is perfectly capable of providing some top notch talent to walk the picket lines too. The writers have now set up camp in Columbus Circle, in front of the Time Warner building, and a number of NY-based stars showed up to lend their support. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Robin Williams was there with free bagels! Free f**king bagels! Joining him were fellow Justice League SAG members Tim Robbins, Julianne Moore, Seth Myers (SNL) and Sopranos creator David Chase (who, unfortunately, turned down the chance to write an ending for the strike). Gone was the inflatable rat, which has been replaced by an equally-as-large (and meaner) "greedy" pink pig. Next up, an inflatable Jabba the Hutt. Watch for it!

No new talks between the WGA and AMPTP are scheduled, but Variety claims both sides were close to a deal before talks fell apart last Sunday. What would it take to get them both in the same room again? Personally, I'd start with some Tequila and a hug. But that's me. Blogger Nikki Finke continues to pound the pavement, digging up quotes, photos and information that she publishes, non-stop, daily. By the time the strike is over, she'll either a) wind up with a daytime show on Fox or b) explode. Either way, she'll need a lot of help when it comes time to kick that strike addiction.

[video via The Hot Blog]

Now that The Sopranos has aired its final show, folks (including me) have been dying to hear from show creator David Chase, as if he were this angel capable of swooping down to explain it all. In true Chase fashion, the man granted one interview following the finale with The Star Ledger of Newark, a local New Jersey paper. And, as you can imagine, they were all over him about a possible Sopranos movie. Is that why Chase left the ending open? Is he planning to bring The Sopranos to the big screen? He says, "I don't think about a movie much. I never say never. An idea could pop into my head where I would go, 'Wow, that would make a great movie,' but I doubt it. I'm not being coy ... if something appeared that really made a good Sopranos movie and you could invest in it and everybody else wanted to do it, I would do it. But I think we've kind of said it and done it."

So, like the ending that had so many people talking yesterday, the possibility for more Sopranos is left open to debate -- seems like Chase is fond of these, "let's just wait and see" conclusions. One interesting note is that, originally, he had an idea for a movie that would take place prior to the deaths of some of the main characters. He then realized that the kids (Meadow and AJ) would be older and it probably wouldn't work; not to mention everyone would know that Tony doesn't die. As far as that final "Don't Stop Believing" scene goes, Chase admits that he wanted to leave it up to fans to interpret themselves. "I have no interest in explaining, defending, reinterpreting, or adding to what is there. People get the impression that you're trying to (mess) with them, and it's not true. You're trying to entertain them. Anybody who wants to watch it, it's all there." Make of that what you will folks, I'm just the messenger.

Note: This post will contain spoilers, so if you haven't watched The Sopranos series finale yet, then I suggest not reading the rest of this post.

Say what you want about the choose your own adventure ending last night, but David Chase shoveled out one of the most talked-about finales in television history. And if that was his original goal right from the start, then the man succeeded ... big time. I'm still trying to wrap my head around what went down, while I surf around and read what other folks have to say about the ending. About the Journey. About the highly amusing cut to black. Some people believe they have it all worked out, but others (like myself) aren't putting a label on it. Like Tony's life, it is what it is. I don't know why people always made it out to be about Tony either dying or getting pinched. Wasn't this show, at its core, always about a man trying to save his family? And if that's the case, then last night's ending definitely did satisfy. Ah, but was it an ending?

We've mentioned before that a Sopranos movie would be hard to pull off since a bunch of the major characters are now dead. But Tony's not. And neither is his family. As you could see, there was so much that was about to go down last night (an indictment, etc ...) that when Chase decided to end it that way, you couldn't help but wonder what his other intentions were. Was he just out to mess with us? Or, did he leave open the possibility of bringing The Sopranos to the big screen? Personally, I'm more than satisfied with the ending that was given to us and wouldn't be interested in any further continuation of the Sopranos story. I didn't need Tony to either get whacked or go to jail in order for me to walk away with a full stomach. But I do know there's a lot of people out there who weren't satisfied, and would love to see more.

So, I ask you: Did David Chase leave some space open for an eventual trip to the big screen? And, if so, would you be interested in a Sopranos movie?