Mark Wahlberg had plans for a sequel to The Departed, but it might be too late for the idea to work now. The original Martin Scorcese movie won four Oscars in 2007, including Best Picture, so a sequel back then or now would have the benefit of building on a successful and well-regarded film. Nevertheless, there are some factors that could keep The Departed 2 from working well, even if it’s a great idea.
Like any good gangster film, The Departed features healthy doses of double-crossing, unexpected turns, and cold-blooded murder. It also makes use of a star-studded cast, which includes Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, and Leonardo DiCaprio in addition to Wahlberg. Nicholson plays mob boss Frank Costello, while Damon and DiCaprio play Colin Sullivan and Sean Costigan, respectively, two moles working for both Costello’s mob and the police. After Sullivan kills Costello and indirectly leads to Costigan’s death, he ultimately meets a shocking demise in The Departed‘s last scene, in which retired Sergeant Dignam (Wahlberg) surprises him at home with a shot to the head.
Wahlberg’s The Departed 2 pitch would have seen Dignam’s story continued, as he’s the only main cast member to survive the original. Although sequel plans never made it far due to the lack of a finished script, The Departed 2 could have been a great idea as a way to follow up from the first film’s surprise ending. While Costello, Sullivan, and Costigan’s stories come to definitive ends, it would be interesting to see where Dignam ends up next after quitting the force and murdering one of his former partners. By now, however, it is probably too late for such a story to work.
Because it’s been 16 years since The Departed, the urgency of the story has likely worn off too much, and there’s a sizeable chunk of today’s audiences who may never have even seen it. A more recent Mark Wahlberg film, Spenser Confidential, references The Departed, which shows that it’s not completely irrelevant, but it’s still true that an extended hiatus often makes sequels tough. Another challenge that The Departed 2 would face is that a big part of the first movie’s appeal — its heavy-hitting cast — can’t appear in the sequel since all those characters are dead. Wahlberg is a big enough name on his own to help draw audiences to The Departed 2, but it would certainly have a different feel than its predecessor with most of the major players gone.
At the same time, a totally fresh story with Wahlberg’s Dignam at the center many years after The Departed‘s events could be quite interesting. Sequels too often make the mistake of trying to copy the formula of their source material, which is something The Departed 2 likely wouldn’t be able to do anyway. Although it looks like Mark Wahlberg’s concept for The Departed 2 isn’t destined to make it, it’s still a great idea in some ways.
