Final two "Sopranos" end pay rift

By Nellie Andreeva

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There's no need for any premature
whacking of characters when "The Sopranos" returns next year for its
final eight episodes.

After lengthy and acrimonious negotiations, Tony Sirico and Steven Van
Zandt -- the last key actors without new deals -- reached an agreement
with HBO on Friday to continue on the Emmy-winning series.

Under the new pact, Sirico and Van Zandt will be paid about double
their most recent per-episode fee of $85,000, sources said.

In a widely publicized salary dispute, Sirico and Van Zandt, who play
Paulie Walnuts and Silvio Dante, respectively, for months refused to
budge from their $200,000 per-episode asking price. That was more than
any other cast member -- except for stars James Gandolfini and Edie
Falco -- had made on the show and miles from HBO's initial offer of a
10 percent raise.

It was less than a week before "The Sopranos" was slated to go back
into production when, after numerous rounds of negotiations, Sirico and
Van Zandt received an offer they couldn't refuse.

After a series of down-to-the-wire deals for all "Sopranos" supporting
actors, the entire cast of David Chase's groundbreaking series is
expected to convene for a table read Thursday (July 6), when production
on the final episodes of the show is slated to begin.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter