Cleaver (The Sopranos) alternately as ""Saw" meets "the Godfather II"", ""the Ring" meets "The Godfather"", and "a story about a young man who goes to pieces and then manages to pull himself together again". Several characters are credited for their involvement in the project. The screenplay was written by J. T. Dolan based on a story by Christopher Moltisanti, directed by Morgan Yam and produced by Carmine Lupertazzi, Jr. and Moltisanti. The film starred Jonathan LaPaglia as Michael "the Cleaver" and Daniel Baldwin as mob boss Salvatore ("Sally Boy"). Also starring as Sally-boy's key advisors are George Pogatsia as Frankie and Lenny Ligotti
The Sopranos pilot episode which was shot in 1997. Chase directed it himself. They finished the pilot and showed it to HBO executives, but the show was put on hold for several months. During this time, Chase considered asking HBO for additional funding to shoot 45 more minutes of footage and release "The Sopranos" as a feature film. In December 1997, HBO decided to produce the series and ordered 12 more episodes for a 13-episode season. The show premiered on HBO on January 10, 1999 with the pilot episode. "The Sopranos" was the second hour-long television drama series produced by HBO, the