Tony Soprano will be running his crew through 2007 -- maybe.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - HBO has decided to give "The Sopranos" a new lease on life in a deal that extends the hit series by another year with eight extra episodes, the cable channel said Friday.

The series was expected to end with its next season, which begins in March. But under the revised plan, the series will now continue into the 2007 season.

"The Sopranos," a drama about a New Jersey mob family, collected four Emmy awards in September.

"We are obviously delighted that we will be able to extend 'The Sopranos' series beyond its slated 12 episodes," Chris Albrecht, chairman of HBO said in a statement. "We are thrilled that David Chase (the show's creator) felt there are more stories to be told."

Initially, Chase had indicated that he would produce only 10 more episodes before he signed off the series.

With the new plan, HBO will now add 20 episodes of "The Sopranos" instead of the 12 that had been initially planned.

The first 12-episode run will extend to the end of May, 2006, and the final episodes will begin being broadcast in January 2007, according to the cable channel. The show is currently filming its sixth season.

HBO, like CNN/Money, is a unit of parent company Time Warner (Research).

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