From David Chase, no 'Sopranos' closure

"You know what?" said Chase, creator of the show regarded by many critics as one of the finest ever in television and headed to stores this week as a mammoth DVD box set. "Every time I say anything about the ending, I just make things worse."

Few farewells in the medium's history were as anticipated or caused as much howling and froth as the HBO show's last 10 seconds, which still somehow haven't faded to black. A good chunk of its audience still isn't over the June 2007 broadcast, and probably never will be. And those on either side of the finale rift -- it was genius or a middle finger -- haven't tired in batting around its masterful ambiguity like some drunk at the Bada Bing.

Shortly after the finale aired, it was hard not to think the 63-year-old veteran of television's "The Rockford Files" and "Northern Exposure" had checked into a witness protection program. He left for Europe, and he gave only one print interview, to New Jersey's Star-Ledger.

In the following months, he steadfastly refused to explain or justify his show's conclusion -- a fictional destination he apparently had in mind for a few years. However, several days after an interview with The Times, Chase called back for another word on a couple of topics, including the end.

"You asked if I wanted to comment about the ending and I said, 'I don't want to make things worse,' " said Chase, speaking from his second home in France. "But then I thought, 'Well, worse for who?' It's not worse for me. There are just people who want this closure and I don't have that."

And despite persistent rumors on the Web, Chase said he has no plans for a feature film about "The Sopranos." "There is nothing lined up," said Chase, who always wanted to break into movies but has worked almost exclusively in television.

But an absence of upcoming "Sopranos" stories on the small or big screen hardly constitutes an end in the digital age. For years, individual-season DVD sets of the show have rocketed to the top of the sales charts, and there's little reason to believe -- despite its heavy price tag at $399.99 -- that "The Sopranos: The Complete Series" will be much different. The 33-disc set contains all six seasons on remastered discs with an additional 3.5 hours of bonus materials and music CDs. "We did a fair amount of work on it," said Chase. "It's very good, actually, but I may be too close to it to say."