MEDIA ALERT:
UPDATE 12/1/01
REPORTED AT IMDB.COM:
November 2001 - TV mobster James Gandolfini turned to the right side of the law when he saw a woman being mugged in his native New York recently. Gandolfini plays Mob wiseguy Tony Soprano in hit TV show The Sopranos. So passers-by were shocked to see the tough-guy step in and rescue a woman when she was knocked down and had her bag snatched whilst walking down a dimly lit street.
UPDATE 11/3/01
BRIEF CASE - James Gandolfini gave up his shorts recently. At a recent benefit for New York firemen, a fan approached Gandolfini and demanded his
boxers. He told her she could have them if she donated $1,000 to the
Firefighters Fund. She whipped out her checkbook, and the actor lit out for
the men's room, returning with black boxer briefs in hand. He may play a
timid colonel in the current ''The Last Castle,'' but he clearly wasn't
afraid to go commando for the rest of the evening.
UPDATE 9/29/01
James Gandolfini at John Lennon benefit in NYC
Kevin Spacey is at Capitol Records this week laying down tracks for
the Tuesday "Come Together: A Night of John Lennon's Words & Music"
tribute at Radio City Music Hall "to benefit relief organizations and
support messages of a nonviolent world."
It includes contributions to the Brady Center for gun control. Spacey,
who will host the evening, said it "will also support Mayor
Giuliani's hopes for healing. This is an opportunity for the world to
change.''
The evening is carried live on TNT at 8 p.m. EDT. Ken Ehrlich is
co-executive producer The performers include Dave Matthews, Alanis
Morissette, Moby, Lou Reed, Stone Temple Pilots, Cyndi Lauper, Marc
Anthony, Nelly Furtado, Yolanda Adams, Sean Lennon, Rufus Wainwright,
Dave Stewart, Shelby Lynne. And presenters include Ben Stiller, Tim
Roth, Steve Buscemi, Cuba Gooding Jr., James Gandolfini, Edie Falco,
Julia Stiles, etc.
Read the article at Yahoo News.
UPDATE 9/12/01
James Gandolfini also wanted to help out the day of the WTC attacks. Click here to see a picture.
UPDATE 9/11/01
Check out this excellent interview with James Gandolfini at Entertainment News Daily.
UPDATE 8/11/01
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - "The Sopranos (news - Y! TV)" stars Lorraine
Bracco, Edie Falco and James Gandolfini, all nominated for Emmys this
year, have been tapped as presenters at the kudocast.
Gandolfini is again up for actor in a drama, the category in which he
won last year. Bracco and Falco are competing in the drama actress
category. Falco won the award in 1999.
The 53rd annual Prime Time Emmy Awards will be broadcast live (except
on the West Coast) by CBS on Sept. 16 at the Shrine Auditorium.
UPDATE 7/18/01
July 17, 2001 'Sopranos' creator Chase nets $15 mil deal
It's the kind of coin that would make Tony Soprano sit up and take notice.
"The Sopranos" creator/executive producer David Chase has finalized a new deal with
HBO and Brad Grey Television that
promises him a windfall north of $15 million for his services on a fifth
season of "Sopranos." HBO, Brad
Grey TV and Chase's representatives at United Talent Agency declined comment
on the blockbuster deal
Monday. Sources said the complicated agreement encompassed advances on future
syndication sales of
"Sopranos," plus Chase's profit participation stakes from international
licensing of the show as well as
home video and DVD sales.
UPDATE 7/16/01
See You in September?
PASADENA Admitting that David Chase's "The Sopranos" remains the wild card in his
network's programming deck, HBO Original Programming President Chris Albrecht
said Friday that part of the network's long-range decisions were guided by
uncertainty over when the fourth season of its biggest hit will be delivered.
"We don't know exactly when 'The Sopranos' will be on," Albrecht said. "We're
meeting with David next week. It certainly won't be March [the anniversary of
last season's premiere], and it's probably going to be June or September."
Either way, "The Sopranos" will miss the 2002 Emmy race, which requires that
shows air between June 2001 and May 2002.
Meanwhile, all three seasons "39 episodes" of "The Sopranos" will be rerun
sequentially, Sunday nights at 8, beginning Aug. 12. And in an attempt to
keep HBO's original series momentum going until new "Sopranos" episodes
arrive, the network has committed to additional blocks of many of its
home-grown shows.
HBO will show original episodes of "Sex and the City" through mid-August, and
it will return in January with six more episodes. Eight new episodes of "Oz,"
launching its fifth season, will begin the same month.
"Six Feet Under," now midway through its first season, will return in March
with a second season of 13 episodes making it possible, if not likely, that
new "Sopranos" may not arrive until September 2002, more than a year from now
(and 16 months since its third-season finale).
David Bianculli
Original Publication Date: 7/16/01
UPDATE 7/14/01
2001 EMMY AWARD NOMINATION OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES! LEAD ACTOR, JAMES GANDOLFINI!
UPDATE 7/10/01
The following is from today's web edition of The Hollywood Reporter...
July 10, 2001 'Sopranos' boss Chase decides to take the fifth
Perhaps it's an offer he just can't refuse. David Chase, creator and
executive producer of "The
Sopranos," is in talks with HBO and Brad Grey Television to commit to a fifth
season of the acclaimed
drama series. Chase previously indicated in published reports that the
upcoming fourth season of
"Sopranos" would be the last for the hit mob drama. Representatives for Chase
declined comment on the
possibility of a new deal for a fifth season, as did HBO. Last year, Chase
struck a two-season deal with
HBO that covered the third and fourth seasons of the show.
UPDATE 6/7/01
The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season will be released on Video November
13th, 2001.
UPDATE 5/10/01
Here's an interview in the London Daily Telegraph.
UPDATE 4/21/01
Recent Gandolfini interviews: Entertaiment Weekly News, eonline.com, playboy.com.
UPDATE 4/16/01
FILM PROJECT UPDATES: (Sources: upcomingmovies.com; imdb.com, aint-it-cool-news.com)
The Castle
Release Dates: December, 2001/January 11th, 2002
Cast: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Clifton Collins, Jr., Mark Ruffalo,
Sam Ball, Steve Burton; other cast not announced yet.
Premise: Redford stars as three-star General Irwin, a renowned military
tactician, who has been court-martialed and sentenced to a maximum security
military prison run with an iron fist by its warden, Colonel Winter (James
Gandolfini). Winter can't help but respect the once-legendary general, but
that respect turns to hostility as Irwin defiantly confronts the warden on
his methods. Their confrontation escalates into war when the general
organizes his fellow inmates into an army to take over the prison.
Filming: Production started on March 19th, 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee at
the old Tennessee State Prison, on a budget of $50-60 million.
The Barber Movie
Director: Joel Coen (Fargo, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, O Brother Where Art
Thou?, The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, Miller's Crossing, Blood Simple)
Release Date: Fall, 2001
Title Note: The title may change to The Man With My Name.
Coloring: This movie was filmed in black & white, to capture that film noir
feel.
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, Frances McDormand, Michael Badalucco, James
Gandolfini
Premise: This movie is about a barber (Thornton) in 1949 whose wife
(McDormand) is cheating on him, with a man who ends up... dead. The story is
steeped in noir and reads like text-book Jim Thompson with a running
voice-over straight outta Cain's "Double Indemnity." The script is set in
1949 and revolves around a "second chair" barber and his cheating wife.
UFO's, Dry-cleaning, homosexuality, barbers, fast-talking lawyers and
dim-witted detectives all figure prominently in the script.
Filming: Production started on this movie on June 26th, 2000 in Los Angeles,
and wrapped in mid-September, 2000.
UPDATE 4/13/01
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Apr 3, 2001 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Rutgers
University's first-year head football coach Greg Schiano has fans in high
places. (Photo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010403/NYTU006 ) When
Mark Ohlstein, a Rutgers alumni and Moorestown, NJ resident, heard that
Schiano, a native New Jerseyan, would return home to coach his alma mater's
football team, the Scarlet Knights, a light bulb went on. Ohlstein wanted to
help Schiano achieve his goal of developing the Scarlet Knights into a BIG
EAST caliber team with star quality and mass appeal and would recruit his
best friends and one of show businesses' biggest stars -- James Gandolfini --
to do it. Ohlstein contacted former classmates Vito Bellino, a senior account
executive for Gannett Inc. who lives in Middletown, NJ, and Tom Richardson, a
project manager for Lucent Technologies who resides in Florham Park, NJ, to
see if they would co-star in a commercial for Rutgers football. The duo
jumped at the chance to support their alma mater. The next step, and real
clincher, was to recruit "The Sopranos" star and 1983 Rutgers graduate,
Gandolfini. When his longtime friends explained their idea to support the
program, Gandolfini agreed. "It's exciting to have a famous alumnus lend his
talent in support of Rutgers football," notes Schiano. "We want our team to
be highly visible throughout the entire state of New Jersey. With James
Gandolfini on board, New Jersey residents will surely take notice." Schiano
has made significant strides in his four months as head coach of the Scarlet
Knights. He has assembled a coaching staff with New Jersey ties and a
recruiting class that includes 13 players from the state. In addition,
Schiano has used his Florida connection to recruit 7 key players from the
Sunshine State. In the Rutgers Football commercial, entitled "The Fan," a
star-struck fan speaking words of praise, approaches Gandolfini, Ohlstein,
Bellino, Richardson and Coach Schiano at the Rutgers University Red Lion
Cafe. The fan seeks a celebrity autograph, but the celebrity he asks is
ultimately Schiano -- not Gandolfini. "The Fan" was created by DKB and
Partners, a New Jersey advertising agency. Michael Imperioli who plays
Christopher Moltisanti on "The Sopranos," directed the 30-second spot for
Perretti Productions. "The Fan" will air on New Jersey cable stations
beginning Monday, April 16 and may be viewed nationally by logging onto
http://www.scarletknights.com. SOURCE: Rutgers University
UPDATE 4/4/01
'Sopranos' Star James Gandolfini Joins College Buddies In Commercial for
Rutgers Football
Rutgers Alumni Take the Stage in Praise of New Head Coach Greg Schiano.
Source: Rutgers University
UPDATE 3/26/01
James Gandolfini and Leonardo DiCaprio to star together in new feature
"Catch Me If You Can" is the true story of Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), youngest man to make
the FBI's most-wanted list for forgery. Frank posed at various times as a
doctor, a lawyer, a pilot, and even an FBI agent. Throughout his life he
passed millions of dollars in bad checks and later, after finally being
captured, escaped from prison. Frank Abagnale eventually became a consultant
for the FBI, specializing in the field of white-collar crime. James
Gandolfini plays an FBI agent who tracks down and catches the young con
artist who successfully impersonated an airline pilot, doctor, assistant
attorney general and history professor, cashing more than $6 million in
fraudulent checks in 26 countries.
The film is directed by Barry Kemp and Gore Verbinski and is based on Frank
Abagnale's book.
UPDATE 3/24/01
According to the latest issue of SI, James Gandolfini will appear in a
local commercial for the Rutgers University football program in April.
Gandolfini, a non-graduating alumni of the school, will appear in character (of Tony Soprano? - ed.) at the request of the school's new football coach Greg
Schiano, Gandolfini's former college roommate. The commercial will air
in the northeast in mid-April.
UPDATE 2/27/01
Third Season of The Sopranos premieres Sunday, March 4 on HBO!
UPDATE 2/18/01
Chase Saying Goodbye to "Sopranos"
It appears as though Sopranos creative wizard and executive
producer David Chase has issued a final hit, on himself.
Attending a function at New York's Museum of Modern Art,
Chase recently revealed he will be leaving HBO's popular mob series
following its fourth season. After his contract with HBO and parent
company AOL-Time Warner expires, Chase will go to work on a new
feature entitled If I Fell, a film about the music business which he
also penned and has plans to direct. The Sopranos third season kicks
off on March 4 and should be able to continue on without Chase after
next year's fourth season.
UPDATE 1/8/01
Gandolfini Locks Role in 'Castle'
NEW YORK (Variety) - "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini will be paid $5 million
to square off against Robert Redford in "The Castle," the DreamWorks drama to
be directed by Rod Lurie, the former film critic who shot "The Contender."
Gandolfini, who completes the third season of "The Sopranos" in February,
would start work in March. He plays the warden of a maximum security military
prison who finds himself in a tactical battle with a man he once served
under: a five-star general (Redford), now an inmate. The picture will also
star Mark Ruffalo ("You Can Count on Me").
HBO's 'Sopranos' may not hit until fall
DreamWorks Pictures
Director: Rod Lurie
USA Films
TV NEWS Thursday, February 15, 2001...
January 7, 2001 10:29 pm EST
By Michael Fleming
