Yahoo News The Sopranos prequel casts James Gandolfini's actual son as Tony
James Gandolfini's real-life son Michael Gandolfini has been cast as Tony Soprano in The Many Saints of Newark.
The prequel to David Chase's TV show The Sopranos has cast Michael as young Tony following an extensive audition process, Deadline reports.
"It's a profound honour to continue my dad's legacy while stepping into the shoes of a young Tony Soprano,” Gandolfini said in a statement.
Related: Did The Sopranos creator just confirm that Tony dies at the end?
"I'm thrilled that I'm going to have the opportunity to work with David Chase and the incredible company of talent he has assembled for The Many Saints of Newark."
The upcoming spin-off movie will take place decades before the New Jersey/New York crime war seen in the TV series.
That's not an entirely unfamiliar era to fans of The Sopranos thanks to those occasional flashbacks during the series. This prequel is also expected to be set in the 1960s, when Tony's father Johnny and Uncle Junior were in their heyday.
That era is also infamous for the Newark race riots involving Italians and African-Americans, and those events are expected to be shown. Twenty-six people died and hundreds were injured over four days in July 1967.
The Sopranos originally aired in the US between 1999 and 2007, and was a multi-award-winning series (scooping 21 Primetime Emmy Awards alone). While it is frequently ranked as one of the greatest TV dramas ever made, a return wasn't guaranteed.
James Gandolfini sadly passed away in 2013.
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