Could Mark Wahlberg have shipped up to Boston yet again? In an interview with KFC Radio, Mark Wahlberg said that he once pitched a sequel to The Departed along with original writer William Monahan. Given that the first film was packed with A-list stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Matt Damon, Wahlberg wanted The Departed 2 to continue the trend with Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro.
Martin Scorsese’s The Departed was a major success upon release and wound up winning several Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director. Mark Wahlberg also received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor, but that wasn’t enough to get The Departed 2 off the ground.
I went into a meeting with Bill Monahan at Warner Bros. to pitch the sequel to ‘The Departed.’ And let’s just say the pitch didn’t go very well. He really didn’t have anything fleshed out, but he’s the kind of guy you just trust to go and write something. And so when we were working on the script for ‘Cocaine Cowboys, American Desperado’ [I] said, ‘Bill, just go write. They like to have things well thought out and planned. So that pitch didn’t go well.
Mark Wahlberg added that he had Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro in mind for roles in The Departed sequel but wouldn’t elaborate on what they would be. William Monahan had previously teased a sequel/prequel over a decade ago. “My idea actually is to set the film before, during and after the action of the first film, which I think would be extraordinary,” Monahan said. “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.” I’m sure there would have been a way to make The Departed 2 work — after all, the movie on which it was based, Infernal Affairs, spawned several sequels — but I still think the original works best standing alone.
Mark Wahlberg can currently be seen starring alongside Tom Holland in the big-screen adaptation of Naughty Dog’s Uncharted video-game franchise. You can check out a review of Uncharted from our own Gaius Bolling right here, and make sure to let us know what you thought of the film as well!