The New York Film Festival, which starts tomorrow night, was upstaged last night by the Tribeca Film Festival roaring back with a surprise September screening and party for “The Many Saints of Newark.” It’s hard to imagine the NYFF can top the glamorous “Saints” premiere, especially since it was held at their opening night venue, Tavern on the Green.

Not only did “Sopranos” and “Saints” stars turn out in full force, but plenty of A listers came to celebrate the movie and its cast. Among the guests was Ethan Hawke, bffs with Alessandro Nivola, Nivola’s actress-director wife Emily Mortimer, plus Zoe Kravitz, Bobby Cannavale and Rose Byrne, the great Steve Buscemi, and even, for some reason, the “cancelled” James Franco whose date sported a wild orangey wig.

There was also a heavy presence from the “Sopranos” crowd: Little Steven van Zandt and his wife Maureen (Silvio and Gabrielle Dante, to you), Edie Falco (Carmella Soprano), Aida Turturro (Janice Soprano– looking stunning), and Joey Pants Pantoliano (Ralph Cifaretta). I had a lovely reunion with Marcy Gandolfini, first wife of James and mother of Michael, who plays his father’s character as a teenager in the movie.

Corey Stoll, who we first met when he played Hemingway in Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris,” took a victory lap as a much more cunning Uncle Junior than we remembered. Stoll is currently killing it as Mike Prince, rival to Bobby Axelrod on “Billions.” He told me that David Chase and Alan Taylor asked him to sing like Dominic Chianese did when he played Junior in the series.

Stoll laughed and shook his head no. “They wanted me to sing. I wasn’t going to try and duplicate Dominic Chianese singing,” he said. “I just whistled instead.”

Everyone sang the praises of “Saints” star Alessandro Nivola, whose star turn as Dickie Moltisanti should earn him awards status this winter. Ethan Hawke and wife Ryan, who’s turned into quite a producer with “The Good Lord Bird” on Showtime, are Nivola’s biggest fans.

Ethan said: “I spoke to Sandro after his audition and asked him how it went. He said it the best audition he ever had. I said, That means you won’t get the part! But he had to get it. Everything he’s done has led up to this.”

Vera Farmiga, who was glowing in red dress, has the role of her life as Livia Soprano, created by the late Nancy Marchand. In the series, Livia was bitter and cruel, but in the movie Farmiga gets to play her just as Livia is transitioning from a young housewife into Tony’s evil mother. If there’s a reason to make a sequel– and there will be one– it’s to see Farmiga’s trajectory. A past Oscar nominee for “Up in the Air,” Vera joked that with the pandemic was thinking of quitting the business before “Saints.” Now she has an amazing journey ahead of her.

And then there was David Chase. He actually seemed a little grumpy sitting out there on Tavern on the Green patio chair. Maybe too many accolades? Was he overwhelmed by all the praise? “Yeah, maybe a little,” he conceded. Is he ready to make more movies? “I guess so,” he said. “If Warner Bros. wants to do it, and Terry Winter will write them, yeah.”

That means yes.

PS Zoe Kravitz is as tiny as a teardrop. She’s also quite lovely. She told me about the movie she’s directing with Channing Tatum and Naomi Ackie called “Pussy Island.” Does it have pussy willows? “Uh, no.” A lot of cats? “A lot of cats, yes!” she said. “Is it a comedy?” She replied: “For some.” A horror movie? “For some, yes,” she laughed. “You’ll be pleasantly surprised. I’ll see you at the premiere.”

That’s a date!

Photo of Hawke and Nivola c2021 Showbiz411

EXCLUSIVE

There will be more “Sopranos” movies after “The Many Saints of Newark.” One, two? No one knows yet.

At last night’s swanky party at Tavern on the Green, I asked Warner chief Toby Emmerich about it. He wants to do it. “Sopranos” creator David Chase has already said he’s up for it if Terry Winter, who wrote much of the series, will do it with him. Winter was at the party, was all grins, and told me he’s ready.

Certainly, by the reaction of the audience last night at the Beacon Theater, they could have stayed for another movie chapter, no problem.

“Saints” can only cover so much ground. But it sets up a lot of the character for more story. Vera Farmiga’s Livia, Corey Stoll’s Uncle Junior, and Michael Gandolfini’s Tony are too good to see more of they evolved to the point at which we met them in the TV series. Also, a couple more movies will give the supporting players like Billy Magnussen (Paulie) and John Magaro (Silvio) chances to show off.

Warner Media, New Line, HBO Max, have a winner in “Saints” spin offs. If it could be done with “Sex and the City” and “Downton Abbey,” it can really be pulled off here.

You don’t have to know the whole “Sopranos” series to get “Many Saints of Newark,” but it wouldn’t hurt to know a little. I suppose you’re a fan anyway if you’re going to a  movie theater– it should be seen on a big screen– to see David Chase and Alan Taylor’s terrific prequel to the hit HBO series.

Last night’s premiere at the Beacon Theater in New York was for the Tribeca Film Festival and featured the great movie mobster Robert DeNiro (with partner Jane Rosenthal) giving welcoming remarks. The Beacon, with its ornate gold leaf interior, was the perfect place for everyone to return to life post-pandemic. The audience was dotted with former “Soprano’s” actors including Stevie van Zandt, Edie Falco, and Joey “Pants” Pantoliano.

Chase, who created the series, and Taylor, who directed the movie, gave a brief introduction and then it was off we go.

“The Many Saints of Newark” is not just an episode of a TV show. It’s a carefully thought out backstory that still takes time to delineate characters and establish the situation. Unlike a lot of TV series made into movies, it doesn’t start with the familiar theme music. “Saints” is an all new proposition. And it’s utterly captivating.

Here’s a little spoiler: it opens with a narration by Michael Imperioli, who played Christopher Moltisanti in the series. As he speaks from the grave, we learn about his family, and their relationship to the Sopranos. Christopher is not yet born but we met his father, Dickie, played by Alessandro Nivola, and Dickie’s father (Ray Liotta). It’s their drama that catalyzes the movie.

There’s a lot to unpack, but where Chase is taking us is how Tony Soprano  (Michael Gandolfini) — who is a child in the 1960s — goes from chubby goof off to psychotic yet charming mob captain. It’s quite a story. Tony’s own father (Jon Bernthal) is a non starter. So Tony is mentored by Dickie, who is good looking, himself charming, unfaithful and cluelessly psychotic on his own. Got that?

Alessandro Nivola plays the role with everything he’s got. It’s the performance of a lifetime, definitely deserving of an Oscar nomination. Despite being surrounded by a dozen or more top notch actors, Nivola carries the film on his back. Whether he’s in scenes with Liotta, or the amazing Vera Farmiga (as his percolating mother Livia), or Uncle Junior (the intense Corey Stoll), Nivola is the center of attention. Dickie Molitsanti is a lightning rod, a leading man in his own soap opera who is completely crazy and okay with it.

Dickie is a lover and he’s also very violent. One thing you forget in the opening moments is that these people will kill each other without thinking twice. When Dickie’s misdeeds grow quickly, he tells his imprisoned uncle (also Ray Liotta, who I hope got paid twice for his great work) that he wants to start doing good deeds to ameliorate all the bad in his life. There is one side scenario Dickie gets involved with — coaching blind kids playing softball — that is sheer genius not just from the writing but from how Nivola plays it. (It’s almost like a Woody Allen extracomic sequence.)

Chase could have made these characters cartoonish. Instead they come off organically. The production design, costumes, sets, cinematography are subtly accurate shades of the 60s and 70s, which gives the movie its gravity. That Chase can find laughs in the violence is what makes the whole “Sopranos” gestalt work. The characters are unaware of any other way of life than this brutal episode of “Survivor” in which the game just keeps ratcheting up another notch. And young Tony is just taking it in, as sort of a demented Luke Skywalker, until one day it will all be his.

All of this mayhem in Newark by the way is set against the rising of an African American crime boss, Harold McBrayer, played with ferocity by Leslie Odom, Jr. Harold starts out working for Dickie, learns so much he becomes his rival in every respect. If you thought Odom posed a problem for Alexander Hamilton in the musical as Aaron Burr, watch him now. Then there’s a whole set of super supporting players, from Michela di Rossi (sensational, sexy) to John Magaro as young Silvio, Billy Magnussen (unrecognizable and hilarious as a nascent Paulie Walnuts), and Gabriella Piazza as Dickie’s blissfully ignorant wife.

“Saints” opens in theaters and on HBO Max, but really, try and see it in a theater. It’s a movie. It’s a really good one. I can’t recall having such a good time.

More tomorrow about the premiere, the after party, and how the LA guests lived through New York humidity.