With every passing day, the trend of adapting cop-based films into TV series seems to grow ever-more prevalent. Just in the recent few months there’s been news about RUSH HOUR, LETHAL WEAPON, TRAINING DAY, and now THE DEPARTED. That’s right, producer Roy Lee (who is also currently working on getting a number of other properties off the ground, including Stephen King’s THE STAND) is working on getting a TV series going based on that acclaimed movie.
Well before we get into the TV idea, we should first answer a question some of you may be asking, which is why there wasn’t an honest sequel to the 2006 film, THE DEPARTED, which starred Leonard DiCaprio, Matt Damon, and Jack Nicholson, and was directed by Martin Scorsese. After all, it was based on the Chinese film INFERNAL AFFAIRS, and that film had sequels, didn’t it? Roy Lee had the following to say when speaking with Collider:
“[In order to have a sequel to the DEPARTED film, we would have] to bring back certain characters who died in the original movie. [DEPARTED writer William Monahan] came up with an amazing idea to make it work, but it would be so expensive and Scorsese didn’t want to do a sequel.â€
With a sequel off the table for all intents and purposes, Lee suggested that TV would be the next logical step for the property. He went on to compare the transition from big to small screen with another well-known film that made the same leap: FARGO.
“THE DEPARTED as a concept is amazing. That’s what attracted me to the story, the two moles working on either side of the law, and translating that idea into other settings with new characters, like how FARGO has taken the feel of the Coen Brothers’ film. We were having discussions about making INFERNAL AFFAIRS a television series. A different city, so it’s not anything like THE DEPARTED, but essentially THE DEPARTED as a TV series.â€
Unlike a show like TRAINING DAY, to goal for the DEPARTED TV show would not be to have it set in the same world, but rather have the show be a reimagining of the series. And to accentuate that difference, having it take place in a city that’s not Boston would go a long way to make sure it doesn’t feel like a simple rehash.
Right now, Roy Lee and his team are deciding whether or not this would be a series better fit for cable or network. We’ll have to wait and see what he decides.
What do you think of the idea of DEPARTED TV series? Let us know in the comments down below!
SOURCE: Collider
