wtf a sequel to The Departed?

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http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...ck=1&cset=true

'Departed' sequel in the works
Back from the dead, director Martin Scorsese and writer William Monahan puzzling over how to extend francise.
By Jay Fernandez, Special to the LA Times
10:13 AM PST, January 30, 2007

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The elegiac title and murderous conclusion of "The Departed" may have signaled a brutal, blood-red finality, but in Hollywood any potential franchise can be revived by a strong-enough dose of green.

"The Departed" is by far director Martin Scorsese's biggest hit, with a gross of more than $260 million worldwide — a number bound to escalate if the intricate thriller wins an Oscar next month for best picture (one of its five Academy Award nominations). And so sources close to the film say that screenwriter William Monahan, who also received a nod for his "Departed" screenplay last week, has begun working out a potential take that would extend a connected story line and involve some of the same characters.

Of course, given the slaughter that terminates "The Departed," there aren't a whole lot of characters left to pursue.

This is the same dilemma faced by the creators of "Infernal Affairs," the popular 2002 Hong Kong thriller written by Alan Mak and Felix Chong upon which Monahan's "Departed" script was based. Mak, Chong and co-director Andrew Lau got around it by making their follow-up a prequel, thus allowing the first film's stars to reprise their roles. (Mak, Chong and Lau made a third in the series that split its story around the events of the first film.)

According to the sources, Monahan is not taking the prequel route and is instead developing a wholly original continuation of the story. Best supporting actor nominee Mark Wahlberg recently told MTV that the filmmakers have discussed bringing in Scorsese's classic gangster muse Robert De Niro to play a role. That said, it's unclear how involved Scorsese is at this point, or whether he would take part in any sequel.

If he did, it would be a first. The Oscar-nominated director has never revisited any of his films. (His 1974 drama "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" spawned the diner sitcom "Alice," though he had nothing to do with it.) Scorsese did make "The Color of Money," a sequel to Robert Rossen's "The Hustler," back in 1986. Monahan, who sources say began thinking of ways to continue the Boston cops-and-gangsters saga back in 2005 when production wrapped, recently tread further into sequel territory with a draft of "Jurassic Park IV."

Warner Bros., which released "The Departed," had no comment. It's just as well. In the vicious world of "The Departed," one's true motives are best kept hidden.
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little odd.