'Goodfellas' Star Ray Liotta Joins The Cast Of Sopranos Prequel 'The Many Saints of Newark'

Two mafia movies have made their way on top many movie goers most anticipated list this year, and those two are The Irishman and The Many Saints of Newark. While the former film is being directed by Marty Scorcese himself and has put together a cast of big names stars familiar with the genre including Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, and Joe Pesci, the other film's cast isn't exactly who you would expect to see headlining a Sopranos prequel. Well sure enough, Ray Liotta who one would expect would've gotten the call from Scorcese to join The Irishman, is instead coming on board for David Chase's Sopranos prequel.

Deadline reports that Liotta has joined the already impressive cast which includes the likes of Jon Bernthal, Michael Gandolfini, Alessandro Nivola, Vera Farmiga, Billy Magnussen, and Corey Stoll. When asked about the project, Liotta expressed his excitement stating, "David [Chase's] talent is unmatched and the directing of Alan Taylor makes this even more exciting." Chase is of course the brains behind The Sopranos, while Taylor directed some note worthy episodes of the show and has gone on work on Game of Thrones in recent years. 

As fans of The Sopranos know, David Chase didn't really cast any big name stars in the role. Instead most of the main actors had come from smaller parts in the background of mafia movies, and this was their first time getting to play a lead. With a bigger budget and cemented reputation to back him up now, it seems Chase is using this opportunity to bring on a big name like Liotta known for his work in the genre. Many of The Sopranos main cast members including Michael Imperioli and Lorraine Bracco all starred in Goodfellas, so it only seems right for Henry Hill himself to finally have a part in The Sopranos universe.

Liotta's career has faltered in recent years, but perhaps a role like this can really help get his career back on track. Like every other cast member who has joined this cast, we still have no idea who any of these actors will be playing aside from Alessandro Nivola as Dickie Moltasanti and Michael Gandolfini as young Tony Soprano. We know Tony's father, mother, and Uncle Junior will all have roles in the movie as it portrays the origins of their crime family amongst the backdrop of the Newark riots of the 1960s. Its unlikely Liotta will be playing any of these roles given his age, but he could be playing an older mentor role to the family. 

So what do you think of Ray Liotta joining the cast of The Saints of Newark? Would you have liked to have seen him in The Irishman? Let us know below!

Read More

Michael Gandolfini Will Step Into The Shoes Of His Father As Young Tony Soprano In 'The Many Saints of Newark'

Depending on who you ask, fans of the hit HBO series The Sopranos are either excited or down right pissed off that the shows creator David Chase is bringing a prequel movie to the big screen. Little is known about the movie other than that it will focus on the riots between Italians and African-Americans in Newark, New Jersey during the 1960s. For weeks the only casting news we had gotten was Alessandro Navoli as Christopher father Dickie Moltisanti, but now things have really started to pick up. While its unknown who most of the other additions to the cast are playing, we now know that James Galdolfini's son Michael will be starring in the younger version of his character Tony.

Deadline broke the news that Michael, who is an actor currently featured on James Franco's TV show Deuce, landed the role after an extensive casting process. Chase apparently really wanted to make sure Michael was the right guy for the job, but one could imagine no one knows his father's mannerisms as well as his own son. The casting is of course bittersweet as James passed away in 2013, but it seems like a very fitting way to honor him by having his son play his part. 

Its hard to tell how young Tony will be featured in the movie, and how much screen time he'll be getting. We're expecting to see a young Dickie alongside Tony's father and uncle Johnny Boy Soprano and Junior. With Jon Bernthal and Corey Stoll joining the cast recently, its been suggested by fans that those might be the roles the two of them are playing. Young Johnny and Junior were featured in some flashbacks to Tony's childhood in the original series, but it makes sense that the roles would have to be recast as its been twenty years. 

Its possible that the movie will progress through time showing the original generation of the family, and eventually end up with an adolescent Tony. We can probably expect the casting of young Silvio, Pussy, Paulie, and even Ralph Cifaretto at some point if they're really going to show us the origins of Tony's crew. As for what roles Vera Farmiga and Billy Magnussen could be playing, the former is believed to be taking on the role of Tony's devilish mother Livia Soprano. Its hard to tell who any of them are playing this early on, but we should get confirmation at some point soon when an official cast list hits the web.

So what do you think of Michael playing a young Tony? What roles do you think the other actors are playing? Let us know below!

Read More

'Sopranos' Prequel 'The Many Saints of Newark' Casts Alessandro Navoli As Dickie Moltisanti

Fans of the HBO series The Sopranos thought we'd seen the last of David Chase's world after the screen went black during the series finale years ago. Unfortunately, five years ago we lost Tony Soprano himself James Gandolfini, which seemed to have put any idea of continuing the series to bed. Instead, director Alan Taylor has been brought on board to adapt a prequel film to the show written by Chase. The series will show how the crime family came to be, and show many of the predecessors to the guys like Tony, Silvio, Paulie, and Christopher. Pretty much everything about the show has been kept tightly under wraps, but we now know at least one cast member he has joined in a key leading role.

Actor Alessandro Navoli best known for his work in movies like Face/Off, Selma, American Hustle, and The Wizard of Lies will star in the movie. Navoli will be playing the father of Christopher Moltisanti, who fans will remember was a key character and Tony Soprano's nephew in the show played by Michael Impereoli. Christopher's father Dickie has been mentioned several times in the show, as was killed off camera prior to the events of the series. Its believed he was killed by a police officer who Christopher eventually gets revenge on in Season 4. 

Much in the same way as The Godfather: Part 2 told the story of a young Vito Corleone and how he rose to power and started his crime family, The Many Saints of Newark will hopefully give fans that same insight into the DiMeo family. Its expected characters such as Tony's mother, father, and Uncle Jun will all be a part of the movie but have yet to be cast. There's also been rumors the child versions of Tony and his crew will make in appearance, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Not much is known about the film's plot other then the fact that it takes place in the 1960s and will focus on tensions and riots between African-Americans and Italian in the Newark, New Jersey area at the time. In the coming months it'll be interesting to see who else joins Navoli on the project, and who will play the rumored roles of young Tony, Uncle Jun, Johnny Soprano, and Dickie's father Aldo Molstisanti. 

So who would you like to see cast as the young Tony, Junior, and Johnny? Are you interested in seeing the history of DiMeo family on the big screen? Let us know below!

Read More