We Almost Got Edie Falco in 'The Sopranos' Prequel Film

The director of the upcoming Sopranos' prequel film The Many Saints of Newark, Alan Taylor, told NME this week that the filmmaking crew shot a scene with Edie Falco. That's great news. Here is the bad news: the scene didn't make the final cut.

"We had Edie come in and she dressed up as Carmela, and we shot something with her and it wound up not being in the final movie," Taylor said. "But it was a great excuse to see her again."

I'm not sure what that means, by the way.

The film is set in 1967, when Carmela would have been a kid or a teenager. So it's unclear how Falco could have played Carmela in that period. Unless, of course, HBO planned to de-age Falco a la The Irishman with Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. I loved The Irishman, but let's never do that again. For anyone.

Nevertheless, whatever HBO had in mind for Falco could come to fruition with another former cast member, according to a tease from Taylor:

"Not to give away too much but, when you make a movie, you're not exactly sure the final shape it's going to be, and we — believe it or not — shot a few things that included other cast members."

Don't get too excited, but that could mean Adriana La Cerva... 

So far, all of the cast members are new and portraying younger versions of characters from the series. Most notably, the son of the late James Gandolfini, Michael, plays a young Tony Soprano. Michael Gandolfini co-stars with Alessandro Nivola, who plays Dickie Moltisanti, Christopher's father and Tony's idol.

Film trailers also show glimpses of the early days of Johnny Soprano, Junior Soprano, Silvio Dante, Livia Soprano, Paulie Gualtieri, and Artie Bucco. For what it's worth, IMDB does not list Carmela in the film. However, Carmela is Dickie Moltisanti's cousin, making her appearance, via some actress, probable.

Saints also got another boost of confidence this week. Far-Left websites are already handing it poor reviews, which should heighten expectations. My rule is simple: if The Daily Beast hates a show, that show is probably phenomenal. I expect that will be the case here. Plus, how could a script written by Sopranos creator David Chase be anything but phenomenal?

The Many Saints of Newark debuts in theaters and on HBO Max on October 1, without an appearance from Edie Falco.