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.

Since it’s called “The French Dispatch” and it’s set in France. Wes Anderson has released an animated video from his forthcoming movie sung entirely in French by UK singer Jarvis Cocker. It’s called “Aline.” Previously released from the soundtrack was an instrumental by Alexandre Desplat called “Obituary.”

The much-heralded Academy Museum opened today for press and VIPs, the official opening is September 30th.   The Museum has been long in the making but it was totally worth it. Kudos to the Academy.

We spoke to the esteemed Bill Kramer, Director and President of The Academy Museum who told us: “This has been such a long-held dream of the Academy, of the city of LA, of the film industry.  We couldn’t be prouder to open the Academy Museum for all of us.  This is our museum, it’s everyone that walks in the door; their movie home. This is a movie museum for Academy members, film artists, Angeleno’s and film lovers from around the world; it’s for everybody.  This is our hometown industry and we need this institution that celebrates the work of our film artists and our film history.  And we have it here!”

Bill earlier had told the VIP crowd in the 1000 seat David Geffen Theater, after being introduced by Oscar nominee Anna Kendrick that, “We know this Museum will become an instant landmark, a must see for residents and tourists alike.  To directly connect with the movies that have left an indelible mark on their lives.’”

Academy CEO Dawn Hudson and Film Academy President David Rubin followed and explained that the Academy wanted a museum 92 year ago.  Samsung heiress Miky Lee, who was a producer on “Parasite” and is Vice Chair of Academy Board of Trustees also spoke.  (The popular Ms. Lee was also the money behind Dreamworks back in 1995.)

A short film followed with Bob Iger and then Oprah Winfrey honoring Sidney Poitier; the lobby of the Museum is dedicated to him.  The famed Italian architect Renzo Piano then talked charmingly about his creation.  “I’m not good at anything by myself.  When I was a boy in Genoa I loved the sea and cinema.  It’s all in a movie, the light and shadow.  That is what is here.  This bubble will never grow up.”

A playful Tom Hanks joked with the reticent press crowd by noting, “Thank you for holding your applause.”   Tom then went on to cheekily promote multiple times the ABC special, “A Night In The Academy Museum “ which he’s co-hosting with fellow Oscar winner Laura Dern on Oct 12^th at 10pm. When the audience didn’t react the way charming Tom is used too, he quipped, “To paraphrase the words of Hans Solo as he was approaching the Death Star, I have a good feeling about this.  You know I thought that joke was going to kill, you guys are so jaded.”

Hanks went on to say that, “This Museum is like the Parthenon for movies. Movies continue to be the magical art that speaks to everybody everywhere.  This end result exceeds our dreams tenfold.” He ended it in true Tom style by exuberantly saying, “Boy Howdy hey- welcome to the Academy of Motion Pictures!”

The numerous splendors inside include the main exhibition, Stories of Cinema which is three floors and chock filled with thousands of iconic pieces; the ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, Star Wars droids, Black Panther suits, Tim Burton haunted houses, Peter Jackson’s heads from Lord Of The Rings and so much more.

The Significant Movies and Moviemakers Gallery has six works and artists, the iconic Rosebud sled is included which was donated by Steven Spielberg.  And there is an original JAWS shark that greets you as you step off the elevator.

The Museum, to its credit, does not shy away from the controversies long surrounding the Academy: the lack of diversity, and the snail like progress that women, Latinas and Blacks have made.  There is a poignant empty display for Hattie McDaniel’s Oscar statue which she won in 1939 and went missing.  (McDaniel was famously forced to sit in the back of the room during that year’s ceremony because was Black.) A makeup and hairstyling exhibit is not sparing the displays of blackface and yellowface from the 1930s and 40s.  The display of the Mount Rushmore exhibit used in North By Northwest has a sign which mentions the desecration of sacred Lakota land. Black filmmakers talk about the release of DW Griffith’s The Birth Of A Nation, which reinvigorated the KKK in the 1930s.

Editing, backdrops, composers, all artisans are honored.  Snippets of the most iconic films of our time are throughout. Spike Lee has his own exhibit, with his personal memorabilia as does Pedro Almodovar, which is often racy and fascinating to watch.  Animation galleries abound and there is a fun Oscars Experience which creates an immersive environment that simulates the experience of accepting an Oscar on stage at the Dolby Theatre. (Yes, I partook.)

A room dedicated to the actual statues of Oscars past, with Sidney Poitier is front and center.  One of the museum’s inaugural temporary exhibitions spotlights the work of Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animator, director and producer behind Studio Ghibli.  You can lie down and look up at a blue sky and sit in the faux grass under a gorgeous light green light art piece.  Circular rooms are plentiful, to take a breather and watch old clips, sci fi films and so much more. To paraphase Tom Hanks, the Academy Museum so long in the making, celebrates the rich cinematic history that is Hollywood in a swell and splendid way!