Director Alan Taylor to helm prequel film to The Sopranos, popular HBO series on American mafia

Director Alan Taylor will be helming a big screen prequel to hit HBO series The Sopranos.

Written by show creator David Chase and Lawrence Konner, the film has been tentatively titled  The Many Saints of Newark , reports Variety.

New Line recently bought the script of the prequel which will be set against the backdrop of the Newark riots of the 1960s when African-Americans and Italians clashed.

Taylor, who has film credits such as Thor: The Dark World and Terminator: Genisys , previously directed episodes of The Sopranos and won an Emmy in 2007 for Outstanding Directing, for the episode Kennedy and Heidi.

Chase will produce the film via his Chase Films banner with Nicole Lambert as an executive producer.

The hit HBO series, headlined by James Gandolfini, ran for six seasons and won 21 Emmys. Edie Falco, Steven Van Zandt, Jamie Lynn Sigler, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Dominic Chianese, Steve Schirripa and Tony Sirico also starred in the show.

The crime series revolves around an Italian American mafia leader in New Jersey, Tony Soprano (Gandolfini) who struggles to find the balance between his mob and his family. What transpires often comes to light through his sessions with his psychiatrist, Jennifer Melfi, played by Bracco.

With inputs from PTI