Sopranos creator David Chase and HBO have reached an understanding and put out a contract.
HBO now owns the rights to a fifth season of the hit series (pun intended), Variety reports.
Neither HBO nor Chase‘ representatives, The United Talent Agency, would comment on the deal.
The contract for the fifth season is worth “north” than $15 million for Chase, though other insiders have said the deal is closer to $20 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The deal is significant for reasons other than the sheer lucrative nature of the contract. A fifth season of The Sopranos would take the series to the 65-episode level, which would allow the show to be syndicated in a 13-week, five-days-per-week run.
Despite rumors of an April 2002 debut, radio station Y-100 100.7 FM in South Florida reports that the fourth season won’t begin now until September 2002–due to the creators’ desire to make scripts absolutely perfect–which means that the fifth season wouldn’t premiere until Fall 2003 at earliest.
HBO is planning to show the first 39 episodes of The Sopranos in chronological starting in mid-August. The Sopranos was nominated last week for a whopping 22 Emmys, including best drama.
