HBO have announced a documentary telling the story behind the acclaimed mob drama The Sopranos and its creator David Chase.
Director by Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, the two-part documentary, Wise Guy: David Chase and the Sopranos, will air on the network on September 7, with both parts airing consecutively. They will also be available to stream on HBO Max.
The synopsis reads: “25 years after the show first debuted, HBO’s paradigm-shifting series The Sopranos remains a cultural phenomenon and a touchstone for prestige television. In Wise Guy, Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) delves deep into the psyche of Sopranos creator and writer, David Chase, to illuminate his life and career while offering a unique window into his unparalleled work on the iconic program.
“On a replica set of Dr. Melfi’s psychiatrist’s office, Gibney flips the script on Chase, excavating and analyzing the origins of The Sopranos, his creative process, and the intimate connections between his own life and many of his characters.”
The documentary will feature interviews with Sopranos writers, producers, executives, and actors, which include Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, and Michael Imperioli.
“From his own upbringing in an Italian American family in north New Jersey, with a complicated mother and a fascination with cinema, Chase details his entrée into Hollywood, where he wrote for a multitude of television shows, and his relationship with HBO as he pitched and developed his anti-hero mobster Tony Soprano,” the synopsis continues. “With candor and self-reflection, Chase digs into the challenges of running a successful show, the inevitable “deaths” of some of the show’s favorite characters, and his creative working relationship with the late James Gandolfini.”
In other news, Jon Hamm recently revealed that he became a mentor to James Gandolfini’s son after he suddenly died of a heart attack in 2013 at the age of 51. His son Michael, who was 14 years old at the time of James’ death, went on to portray a young Tony Soprano in the 2021 film The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to the series.
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