‘The Sopranos’ Creator David Chase Mulls Project About Italian Americans Moving to Italy and ‘What Surprises They Have in Store for Them’
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- David Chase told an industry audience at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival that he's mulling a movie or TV show about 'four people, Italian Americans, going back to the old country, and what surprises they have in store for them,' citing the trend of Americans buying property in abandoned Italian towns
- Chase named Lorraine Bracco — who played Dr. Jennifer Melfi on 'The Sopranos' — as someone who obtained a house in Italy 'for nothing,' using her as an example of the cheap-property trend he's drawing from
- Chase said he wants to reteam with actors John Magaro, Jack Huston, Will Brill and Bella Heathcote, the four leads from his 2012 film 'Not Fade Away,' for a new project 'not about the same subject but with them'
- Chase is also developing 'Project: MKUltra' for HBO, a series based on John Lisle's book about CIA chemist and LSD program architect Sidney Gottlieb, known as the 'Black Sorcerer'
- Chase was delivering a talk about the cultural impact of 'The Sopranos' — the seven-time Emmy-winning HBO drama about a New Jersey Italian-American mafia boss — when he floated the Italy project
Why it matters: Chase already has an HBO series in the pipeline with 'Project: MKUltra,' so any new Italy-set project would sit alongside an active commitment rather than replace it — meaning fans may have to wait, or the Italy project could shift to film form. The choice to anchor a story in the 'one-euro house' phenomenon gives Chase a contemporary hook that contrasts sharply with 'The Sopranos'' urban New Jersey crime world, signaling a thematic pivot in his post-Sopranos work.
