'Sopranos' Prequel Movie in the Works at New Line

Creator David Chase co-wrote the movie with 'Sopranos' writer Lawrence Konner.

David Chase will be returning to the world of The Sopranos for a feature prequel.

New Line Cinema has purchased the screenplay The Many Saints of Newark, which Chase co-wrote with Sopranos writer Lawrence Konner.

The story is in the era of the Newark riots in the 1960s, when African-Americans and Italians in New Jersey were at each other's throats and, among the gangsters of each group, it became lethal.

While other plot details are currently sleeping with the fishes, some fan-favorite Sopranos characters will be seen in the film. A search for a director is underway.

“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," Warner Bros. Picture Group chairman Toby Emmerich said Thursday in a statement.

Chase will serve as producer via his Chase Films banner. Chase Films' Nicole Lambert will serve as an executive producer.

Chase and Konner are both repped by UTA.