A prequel to The Sopranos is in the works from creator David Chase. The prequel won't be taking the form of a TV series though, as Chase is reportedly working with New Line Cinema to bring the world he created in the hit HBO series to the big screen. The movie, which is going under the working title The Many Saints of Newark, is said to take place during the 60s at the time of the famous Newark riots, during which time, the African-Americans and the Italians of Newark were at one another's throats, which led to brutal and lethal conflict.

Warner Bros.' New Line purchased the script for The Many Saints of Newark from David Chase, who co-wrote it with Lawrence Konner, who was one of the writers of the HBO series. Chase, in addition to co-writing the script, will serve as a producer on the movie and will have a hand in choosing the director. At the present time, there's no indication as to who is being eyed to direct The Many Saints of Newark, but it sounds like this is in the relatively early stages. Here's what Warner Bros. Chairman Toby Emmerich had to say about the movie.

"David is a masterful storyteller and we, along with our colleagues at HBO, are thrilled that he has decided to revisit, and enlarge, the Soprano universe in a feature film."

David Chase has resisted the idea of reviving The Sopranos in the past, but this allows to further explore that world and makes it so he won't have to recast any of the characters that fans know and love from the series. However, it's said that some of the characters from the series will appear as younger versions of themselves, but exactly which characters will appear in The Many Saints of Newark has yet to be revealed. And it's unlikely that we'll see a young Tony Soprano or Carmela Soprano show up in the movie. But one never knows. In an interview last year, Chase revealed that he was interested in the idea of a Sopranos prequel, but didn't hint at the movie at the time.

"I wouldn't want to see that happen, no. Like recasting? Everybody's getting older, you can't match people anymore. I could conceive of maybe a prequel of The Sopranos. I could never see [a return of the show] except as a prequel."

The Sopranos, which aired on HBO from 1999 to 2007, helped put HBO on the map and make them a major name in entertainment. Many still consider the series to be one of the greatest TV shows ever made and it's been placed at the very top of many lists. The Sopranos helped establish the market for DVD sales of TV shows and won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards. The series also won five Golden Globe Awards and Peabody Awards for its first two seasons. There's currently no word on a release date for the Sopranos prequel movie, but we'll be sure to keep you up to date as any new details are made available. This news comes to us courtesy of Deadline.