‘The Many Saints of Newark’ trailer: ‘Sopranos’ prequel movie is here - NJ.com

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Pull on a bathrobe, grab a copy of The Star-Ledger and get out your best tracksuit.

The “Sopranos” prequel film “The Many Saints of Newark” is here.

Well, the trailer.

And after months of postponements, this is just as good as a Hollywood premiere.

The film, which is set in various years including the 1960s during the Newark riots, stars Alessandro Nivola as Richard “Dickie” Moltisanti, a soldier in the Soprano crew, father of Tony Soprano mentee Christopher Moltisanti and cousin to Carmela Soprano. (For those who haven’t been following along, “Moltisanti” means “many saints” in Italian.)

Joining Nivola (”American Hustle,” “Disobedience”) is James Gandolfini’s son Michael Gandolfini, 22, taking on the role his father made famous as young Tony Soprano. Here, Dickie is a mentor to young Tony.

The trailer opens on James Gandolfini’s voice as the original Tony Soprano.

“When I was a kid,” he says, “guys like me were brought up to follow codes.”

From there, we see — what else? — violence, as Michael Gandolfini’s Tony loses his cool and gets into a scrape.

The Oscar-nominated actor Vera Farmiga, who grew up going to school in Newark, plays Tony’s mother, the formidable Livia Soprano, while Jon Bernthal (”The Punisher”) plays Giovanni Francis “Johnny Boy” Soprano, Tony’s father. Nancy Marchand originated the role of Livia in the series, and was untouchable as an agent of chaos and loathing.

In the trailer, when Livia is told that a test shows her son has a high IQ, she is typically dismissive.

“You can’t prove it by me, he’s got a D-plus average,” she says, scoffing at any notion of him being a “leader.”

It is Dickie, or “Uncle Dick” as Tony calls him, who leads his “nephew” down the path that makes him a North Jersey Mafia boss.

“I want to go to college,” Tony tells him, eyeing some stolen goods. “I can’t get caught with sh-t like this.”

“Look, you take the speakers, right?” Dickie says. “At the same time, you say to yourself, ‘This is the last time I’m ever gonna steal something.’ It’s that simple.”

The filming of The Many Saints of Newark — Actor Alessandro Nivola, left, in Newark during a break in filming for "The Many Saints of Newark" in May 2019.Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

“Sopranos” creator David Chase co-wrote the film with Lawrence Konner, who wrote for the series. Alan Taylor, who won an Emmy for directing an episode of the show (”Kennedy and Heidi” from 2007), directed “The Many Saints of Newark,” which is currently supposed to be released Oct. 1, 2021 (though the trailer just says “fall 2021″).

Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom Jr. (“Hamilton,” “One Night in Miami”) and Union’s own Emmy winner Ray Liotta (“GoodFellas”) also join the “Sopranos” world in the film, which is apparently something Liotta has wanted to do since the show was still on HBO.

“We’ve got to do something abut Dickie Moltisanti,” Odom’s character says in the trailer, which features a cover of the 1979 Bob Dylan song “Gotta Serve Somebody” and the A3 song “Woke Up This Morning,” which was used as the “Sopranos” theme song.

Liotta’s character can be seen talking to Dickie and giving him a warning.

“As far as your nephew goes, stay out of his life,” he says.

“Sopranos” fans will be treated to young versions of various series leads in the film.

Billy Magnussen (”Aladdin”) steps into the shoes of Paulie “Walnuts” Gualtieri ... before the silver wings.

Corey Stoll (”First Man”) is the young (but still bald) Corrado “Uncle Junior” Soprano Jr.

John Magaro (David Chase’s “Not Fade Away”) plays a young Silvio Dante and Samson Moeakiola reportedly plays a young Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero.

You can also expect young Janice Soprano (Alexandra Intrator as the “older” young Janice, opposite Gandolfini, and Mattea Conforti as the younger), Tony’s sister, along with aged-down versions of other series characters at various points in their childhood and young adulthood.

In the spring of 2019, the movie set took Newark back to 1967. Background actors playing police officers, National Guardsmen and Newark residents filled the street for riot scenes, bringing armored vehicles and ‘60s outfits, storefronts and muscle cars to downtown Newark.

Billy Magnussen: a young Paulie Walnuts, played by Tony Sirico in "The Sopranos."HBO; Rodin Eckenroth | Getty Images

“The Many Saints of Newark” also took it back to 2007 (or forward, in this case), to Holsten’s Brookdale Confectionery, the ice cream parlor Tony Soprano was last seen with his family in the series finale. Michael Gandolfini, outfitted in ‘70s-looking attire, including bellbottoms, was on set there in 2019.

Hollywood newcomer Michela De Rossi, an actor from Italy, also plays a role in the movie.

De Rossi filmed scenes with Odom Jr. on Market Street in Paterson outside a building made to look like the parking lot of Satriale’s, the pork store and market that was a regular haunt for Tony and company in “The Sopranos.” (You can see a scene from the set in her Instagram post below and here’s our visit to the set that day.) While the Kearny building that housed the fictional market was demolished after the show, the trailer shows a scene with the storefront.

“The Many Saints of Newark,” which began filming in various New Jersey locations including Newark, Paterson and Bloomfield in 2019, was originally scheduled for a September 2020 release.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the premiere back to March 2021. In the meantime, Warner Bros. decided to release its entire slate of films, including this one, simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters. Later, the movie was pushed back once again to Sept. 24, 2021.

On the set of "The Many Saints of Newark" — A scene from the set of "The Many Saints of Newark."Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

As of this week, “The Many Saints of Newark” is due out on HBO Max and in theaters Oct. 1, 2021 (the latest push is attributed to Warner shuffling its film schedule). The film will be available to stream for 31 days before it leaves HBO Max.

Previously, the biggest glimpse of the film fans got was a snippet of young Tony in an HBO Max super trailer released in January.

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at akuperinsky@njadvancemedia.com and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter.

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