I was late to The Sopranos party when it was first released in 1999 because I didn’t have HBO. I did have a day job at a Best Buy in the mid-2000’s, so when the seasons went on sale, I started buying them and was totally hooked. I mean, who doesn’t love a good Mafia story?

The Sopranos was filled with actors that made the Mafia movie rounds. The storyline sucked you in. You became invested in the characters and their lives. Then, in 2007, after six seasons, it all came to a screeching halt. In fact, the brakes were hit so hard in the series finale, most fans screamed “WTF” with the way it ended.

James Gandolfini was a brilliant actor and I loved him in several other films like “The Mexican“, “Enough Said“, “The Drop”, “The Last Castle” and many more. His passing in 2013 was really sad to me.

Earlier this week, while scrolling thru Facebook, I was excited to see a story about a forthcoming Sopranos movie. My brain was a little slow to process because I knew how the series ended and was like Gandolfini is dead, how are they going to do this??

Turns out, this movie is a prequel to the series. “The Many Saints of Newark” looks back at Tony Soprano’s beginning into the mob underworld, when he’s just a teenager. Watching the trailer my brain again was like WHOA! Whomever they casted as young Tony is a dead ringer for James Gandolfini. Then I dug in a little further. Young Tony is played by James Gandolfini’s REAL LIFE SON, Michael. I mean, this kid is a spitting image of his late father. I had no idea that he had a son or that his son was an actor.

I am really excited about this film. Aside from Michael’s role, Jon Bernthal (Punisher), Leslie Odom Jr (Hamilton), Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), Corey Stoll (The Strain) and even Ray Liotta, David Chase wrote the film. He’s the OG writer/creator of The Sopranos. Which makes me have extra high hopes for this, cuz the man knows what he’s doing.

The film is currently in post production and an expected date of October 1 for its release on HBO Max. Can’t wait! Take a look at “The Many Saints of Newark”