HAMILTON Star Leslie Odom Jr. Joins THE SOPRANOS Prequel NEWARK
Leslie Odom Jr., the actor who starred in the Broadway musical Hamilton, has joined the cast of David Chase‘s The Soprano’s prequel, The Many Saints of Newark, which is now just going by the title Newark.
It’s also been announced that Umbrella Academy star John Magaro has been cast in the film, but there’s no word on who he’s playing.
Odom Jr. joins the previously cast Ray Liotta, John Magaro, Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Jon Bernthal, Billy Magnussen, Corey Stoll, and Michael Gandolfini.
We don’t have a lot of details to share on the story, but we do know that the movie will be set in the era of the Newark riots in the ‘60s. "That was a time when the African-Americans and the Italians of Newark were at each other’s throats, and amongst the gangsters of each group, those conflicts became especially lethal."
It was also revealed that the story will involve a young Tony Soprano, who will be played by James Gandolfini’s son. Chase explained that he’s looking forward to exploring the period that Tony Soprano glorified in the show’s early episodes:
“It is going to depict when it was good. The mafia was very polished at that time, how they dressed and what they did. Those traditions were followed more loosely in the series. These weren’t guys who wore tracksuits, back then.”
The script for the film comes from Chase and it’s being director Alan Taylor, who has directed several of the Sopranos episodes in the past.
Warner Bros. recently announced that the film will be released on September 25th, 2020.
Source: Deadline