The Departed was a huge success both critically and commercially, with both Martin Scorsese and the cast all receiving widespread, and deserved, acclaim. It was only the second produced script by writer William Monahan but it catapulted him to the A-List, along with earning him an Oscar.
Monahan has gone on to both write and direct, his most recent work being his directorial debut London Boulevard. Whilst talking to Collider about that film, he touched on the status of the oft-rumoured Departed sequel. Spoilers abound after the photo if you haven’t seen it!
Monahan had this to say about a potential sequel;
My idea actually is to set the film before, during and after the action of the first film, which I think would be extraordinary… Essentially, in the middle section of the thing I’ve intended, you’d see actions that take place during the original Departed, but aren’t on screen in the original Departed. There would be off-screen things that occur at that point in the story. But it would work seamlessly as a movie of its own.
Anyone who has seen the film will know that any direct sequel would be missing a number of key players – Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen – seeing as their characters all died in the movie. However Monahan’s approach seems to sidestep that problem, allowing the cast to return whilst telling a new, fresh story. There had been rumours about a spin-off sequel focusing on Mark Wahlberg’s character, but Monahan seems to favour including the original cast, a move which would be hugely welcome – especially as it would give audiences another chance to see Jack Nicholson as Frank Costello, if he’d do it..
And indeed, Monahan seems all too aware of the ‘if’ factor of the sequel actually getting made – he goes as far as to say “No. I think Warner Bros. would have liked to see a synopsis of it. I don’t do synopses and I don’t pitch. Personally, I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen. I know the film, I’ve got the film in my head.” This suggests that he’s more than keen to go ahead with a script, but the studio may be reluctant. And there’s no doubt it might be difficult to recruit the whole cast again, on account of scheduling. However, this approach to a sequel does sound extremely interesting – especially when it’s coming from the writer of the original! The Departed remains a brilliant film, and if Monahan and Scorsese were to reunite on this sequel, it could have a chance of being one to watch.
via Collider
