We would definitely watch “The Departed” as a TV series

There are some movies that are objectively amazing, and The Departed is one of them. Martin Scorsese’s deep exploration into dark, incestuous Boston politics is a modern movie masterpiece, and now, it might become a modern TV masterpiece. That’s right, one of the film’s producers is developing The Departed as a TV show.

While the original film, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Jack Nicholson (what. a. lineup.), was entrenched in its Boston setting, producer Roy Lee revealed in an interview with Collider that the TV series would definitely be set somewhere else:

This actually makes sense, as The Departed itself was basically a Bostonian-adaptation of the Hong Kong-set film Infernal Affairs. And, the allusion to Fargo is particularly smart, as the FX series based off the Coen brothers film has drawn critical accolades of its own.

However, why go the TV route versus doing a true-blue film sequel? According to Lee, “[Writer Bobby 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.” There’s also this: Given the ending to the original film, perhaps it would indeed be wiser to take the concept and transplant it somewhere else.

We’ll keep our ears to the ground for more news, but forgive us if we already start fan-casting the central players in the story. Could we do an all-lady Departed? An all-WOC Departed?! Hey, if they’re looking for fresh takes on the now twice-adapted story, we’ve got some ideas.