The Many Saints of Newark helped The Sopranos break new streaming records

Last Updated on October 11, 2021

The Many Saints of Newark debuted in theaters and on HBO Max earlier this month, and although the film didn’t exactly impress at the box office, it did perform quite well on the streaming service. The Sopranos prequel movie finished out the last week as the top-performing film on HBO Max, earning more than triple the audience of the next most viewed title. That success also spilled over to the series itself, as Variety has reported that The Sopranos has broken streaming records.

The Sopranos, which concluded nearly fifteen years ago, broke HBO Max records for weekly viewing of a series by becoming the highest daily viewership in the history of the service. The series rose 65% in week-over-week viewing, but an exact audience number wasn’t made available. “We knew there would be interplay, but we were surprised. ‘The Sopranos’ is such a popular series. It pops in and out of the Top 10 from time to time, and it’s not a juggernaut like ‘Friends’ in terms of breadth, but it does very well,” said Andy Forssell, executive vice president and general manager of WarnerMedia Direct-to-Consumer. Forssell added that The Many Saints of Newark provided a perfect opportunity “for people to be introduced to the series, or in many cases reintroducing it. It was absolutely the highest week for ‘Sopranos’ ever on the service. I’m not shocked by that, but I’m quite surprised that it topped that much that fast.” Did the release of The Many Saints of Newark prompt you to watch or rewatch The Sopranos on streaming?

There have been rumblings that the film could spawn a sequel, and Michael Gandolfini is game to reprise his role of Tony Soprano if the opportunity arises. 

This is such an incredible character and incredible group of actors and incredible filmmakers that I learned so much. This is going to jump to the priority to get to work with David or anyone again. But I am not so much interested in playing 30-year-old Tony. I think it there’s an interesting part after this movie, before the show, that we can explore something about Tony that hasn’t been explored, in his youth, in his 20s. After that, we’re getting a little too old. My dad really explored and David explored everything about that. So is there a time limit around other movies? No, not so much. But the older I get, there is a cutoff where it just naturally goes into the show.

The Sopranos creator David Chase, who also wrote the prequel, has previously said that he would also return if he could co-write the script with former Sopranos writer Terence Winter. In response, Winter said that he would do it “in a heartbeat. Absolutely.“ The Many Saints of Newark is now playing in theaters and on HBO Max, so be sure to check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray.