For years, creator David Chase refused to discuss the series finale of The Sopranos. All he would say is, “If you look at the final episode really carefully, it’s all there.” But in 2015, he provided an in-depth analysis of the diner scene, writing, “Life is short. Either it ends here for Tony or some other time. But in spite of that, it’s really worth it. So don’t stop believing.” True, it didn’t provide the answers fans of the Emmy-winning HBO series were looking for — Is Tony dead? Why does the camera linger on the Man in Members Only Jacket? Are those really da best onion rings in the state? — but it was better than nothing, especially from the occasionally prickly Chase. But he’s softened somewhat since 2007; he’s even discussed a prequel series.
In honor of the 10th anniversary of “Made In America,” Chase told Entertainment Weekly that although he has no interest in continuing the story beyond the final episode (“Like recasting?… Everybody’s getting older, you can’t match people anymore”), he could “conceive of maybe a prequel of The Sopranos. I could never see [a return of the show] except as a prequel.”
That jives with something Chase said in 2016, when he told Deadline, “If I had a really good idea and I thought it could be really entertaining and it wouldn’t upset what was done, I might do it. But so far…” It sounds crazy, returning to The Sopranos universe all these years later, but so did a Breaking Bad prequel about a shady strip-mall lawyer, and looked how well that’s worked out.
Of course, this doesn’t mean HBO is going to pull a Game of Thrones and rush five prequel ideas into development. But at least it’s a much better idea than bringing back Tony Soprano using CGI. It didn’t work the first time…
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
