In “The Departed”, Mark Wahlberg plays Sergeant Dignam. The actor tried to start a sequel with screenwriter William Monahan, in which he would have given the reply to Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro.
Infiltrators: a cult remake
In 2006, Martin Scorsese signed his second remake with Infiltrators. After appropriating Jack Lee Thompson’s thriller worn by Robert Mitchum and Gregory Peck with Nerves raw the filmmaker tackles the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak. The concept is simple: a member of the underworld infiltrates the authorities, while a policeman finds a place among the gangsters.
In this perilous exercise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon succeed Tony Leung and Andy Lau. The first lends his features to Billy Costigan, a promising young cop who joins the special unit of Captain Queenan (Martin Sheen) and Sergeant Dignam (Mark Wahlberg). Their goal is to take down Irish mob kingpin Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson). But when undercover law enforcement criminal Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon) reveals a mole on his team, things take a turn for the worse.
Vera Farmiga, Ray Winstone, Alec Baldwin, James Badge Dale, and Anthony Anderson complete the cast of the feature film. The thriller allows Martin Scorsese to finally win the Oscar for Best Director. When it was released, it also left with the statuettes for Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.
Mark Wahlberg talks about the sequel
In full promotion ofUnchartedMark Wahlberg – nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his outrageous portrayal of Dignam – returned to the sequel to Infiltrators that he tried to start. Passing on KFC Radio, the actor explained submitting the idea to Warner Bros. with screenwriter William Monahan. But the meeting did not turn out to be conclusive, as he says, quoted by the New York Post :
Let’s just say the pitch didn’t go as planned.
At his side, the actor would have liked to play alongside Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro. He adds about this enticing meeting:
It would have been pretty good.
During an interview for /Movie made in 2011, William Monahan spoke about this sequel and gave more details on the plot. The screenwriter then said:
My idea was to place the film before, during and after the plot of the first film, which would be extraordinary. In fact, in the middle of what I had tried to do, we saw things happening during Infiltratorsbut which we do not see on the screen.
He also specified that despite these narrative choices, this sequel would have held up as a film in its own right. Corn William Monahan hates having to pitch his projects. This may explain why The Departed 2 fell in the water…
