NEW YORK – “The Sopranos” will definitely be taken out next year, the show’s creator said, though he can’t say it won’t hit the big screen at some point.

“It may be that in two or three or four years I could be sitting around and get an idea for a really great ‘Sopranos’ movie,” David Chase told The New York Times in a joint interview with James Gandolfini, star of the HBO series. “I don’t think that will happen. But if one morning somebody woke up and said this would make a really good, concise, contained ‘Sopranos’ story, I wouldn’t rule that out.”

Chase, also the series’ executive producer, and Gandolfini reflected on the show and the trajectory of its central character, mobster Tony Soprano, in an article appearing in Sunday’s editions.

Gandolfini’s character never crossed the line into killing family members, except to spare a cousin a worse death by enemies.

“I think there’s a place Tony knows that if he goes to, he’s not coming back, and that’s the place,” Gandolfini said. “If you start killing family members, what’s next?”

The newest 12-episode season will begin March 12. The Emmy-winning show, which began airing in 1999, is to wrap up with eight episodes starting next January.