Entertainment

HBO Is Threatening to Reboot 'The Sopranos'

"I keep saying 'never say never.'"
The Sopranos
Photo by Anthony Neste/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty

We're already getting that Sopranos prequel movie, The Many Saints of Newark, about Tony having a catch with Uncle Jun in 1960s New Jersey or whatever. But it might not be the last we see of the Sopranos family, if HBO has its way—because the network is now considering rebooting the show.

HBO programming head Casey Bloys chatted with Deadline about the prequel movie during the Television Critics Association this week. And, according to Bloys, James Gandolfini's son, Michael, is doing such a fantastic job stepping into his father's shoes as young Tony Soprano that, uh, HBO is toying with the idea of doing an entire prequel series now.

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"I keep saying 'never say never,'" Bloys said, according to Deadline. "There are no plans, there is no discussions about it, but [Michael Gandolfini] is a really good actor; we had him on The Deuce. There is nothing on the table at the moment but I will stay open."

Now, sure, that's not exactly a guarantee that we'll get a Sopranos reboot, but even speculation like this is dangerous. Because, let's be clear: The Sopranos was a brilliant, flawless show (Tony's cartoon farts aside) and we can't let it join the ever-growing list of great shows tainted by terrible reboots.

Thankfully, it sounds like Bloys is talking about a prequel spinoff, Game of Thrones-style, instead of picking The Sopranos up where it left off, which would undermine the power of that ending—even more than David Chase has already. The series Bloys is teasing is closer to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, where we'd presumably see Tony, played by Michael Gandolfini, grow up, get made, and rise through the ranks until he's eventually named capo. It'd be like Muppet Babies, except instead of Kermit in a diaper, we'd get a teenage Paulie Walnuts who loves his mom and still inexplicably has that weird gray hair. Wait, that might actually be kind of great, but… No. Just no. Leave The Sopranos alone.

Spinoff series or not, The Many Saints of Newark is due out September 2020 and will star Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Corey Stoll, and Billy Magnussen, alongside Michael Gandolfini.