The Sopranos Prequel Film Will Focus On Relationship Between Tony Soprano and Christopher Moltisanti’s Dad

The Sopranos is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, with David Chase perhaps accidentally confirming what happened to Tony Soprano in the finale, but its the upcoming Sopranos prequel movie that has been getting a lot of buzz. The film, titled The Many Saints of Newark, features Alessandro Nivola playing Dickie Moltisanti (father of Christopher Moltisanti). Nivola recently spoke to Variety about the film.

“It’s set in 1967 with the backdrop of the race riots that were happening in Newark at that time, and the racial tension between the Italians and the blacks at that moment is a big part of the backdrop of the story,” Nivola said.

Chase had already confirmed that the film would focus heavily on tensions between black and white, and that Tony Soprano will be in the film, but as a kid. Nivola has dropped another bit about the plot — it will focus on the relationship between Dickie and Tony.

“Dickie, as he’s mentioned throughout the Sopranos series, was an important figure in Tony’s life,” Nivola said. “He was a real mentor figure, because Tony’s dad was in prison a lot and Dickie didn’t have any children until later in his life until his early 40s, and so he treated Tony like a surrogate son.”

A young Junior Soprano will also be a character in the film.