Talks underway for Sopranos prequel/sequel series

Here's Ann Sarnoff, CEO of WarnerMedia studios and networks:

“We’re talking to David about a new series, Sopranos related, on HBO Max"

That's not the sort of thing that gets mentioned if talks are casual and not going anywhere. What is a little shady is whether the new project will be a series or another movie. Either way, the new Sopranos thing will be a sequel of sorts to The Many Saints of Newark, but set prior to The Sopranos TV show.

If this comes to life, it is expected that creator David Chase would be working on it with former Sopranos writer Terrance Winter.

So, why is Ann Sarnoff so enthused about The Sopranos? After all, The Many Saints of Newark TANKED at the box office and received tepid critical reviews. Well, the answer as with all things Hollywood nowadays is streaming.

Saints was bad for the box office, but was HUGE for HBO Max. Not only did the film stream in very high numbers on platform (where it was released day and date with cinemas), but viewers were encouraged to also stream all six seasons of the original series.

“You see The Sopranos pop into the top ten of viewed series on the service and it’s given it an entirely new life,” she said. “It’s literally lifted all of The Sopranos franchise in a new way. You can’t measure just by the box office.”

Meanwhile Many Saints of Newark star Michael Gandolfini is joining Paramount+'s The Offer - the limited series about the making of The Godfather.

TeeVee Snacks

Spotify is finally rolling out video podcasts to the wider community of podcast creators. It will initially only be available for podcasters using the Anchor hosting service (owned by Spotify). Read: Variety
Danny Pino returns to Law & Order: SVU for the show's mammoth 200th episode. Read: TV Insider
CBS has picked up a full season for its remake of UK series Ghosts. Read: Deadline
Could the Discovery/WarnerMedia deal give the combined company an opportunity to change the name of HBO Max? Read: CNBC
Speaking of HBO Max, when the service cut off access to Amazon Prime Channels, HBO Max lost 1.8 million subscribers. Read: THR
Apple TV+ series Mythic Quest has been picked up for a third and fourth season. Read: TV Line
Disney Plus has picked up the recent Hardy Boys remake. It'll stream in most international markets on its Star channel. Read: Variety
Expect Game of Thrones spin-off House of The Dragon to have a different tone to the original series. Read: THR
Don't expect to see Harry Styles in a mid-closing titles sequence in Dune. Denis Villeneuve says they suck. He's not wrong. Read: Indiewire
And speaking of Dune - HD copies of the film are streaming now via torrent sites. A reminder to anyone torrenting: If you're not buying a ticket to see it at the cinema, don't complain if low box office means there's no sequel... Read: Variety

It's Mickey Mouse's Song of The South

Runaway Brain is the Disney film the company doesn't want you to see. Even though it was nominated for an Academy Award in the 90s. Is it a racist and offensive short film? No.

But, internally, Disney does not like the film. It is seen as what not to do with the Disney characters. But, with the film being hidden from the world, is it now starting to take on an aura of Song of The South-level mythology?

It can't even really be argued that the film is bad. It got nominated for an Oscar.

In early versions of the “Runaway Brain,” the monstrous Mickey was constantly drooling over Minnie, and one of the first edicts was to dial it down. “They just started saying, ‘you’ve got to cut the saliva,’ so I was fervently animating hook ups so that it wouldn’t be so choppy,” Bailey says. Deja recalls the drool being an issue too and thinks Schneider ordered it cut. (Schneider declined to take part in this article.) These shots had always been a part of the cartoon; but with Katzenberg gone, edicts were ordered more easily.

The Batman gets animated

Interested in seeing the trailer for the new film The Batman assembled from clips of the 1990s Batman animated series? Good news. I got you.

Trailer Park

Red Notice is a heist comedy coming to Netflix Nov 12 that just happens to star three of the biggest movie stars in the world - Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds.