Well, Mark Wahlberg is still talking about a sequel and prequel to The Departed and it really got me wondering where are they going to go with this story. Now, I have watched the original Infernal Affairs and will be watching Infernal Affairs 2 very soon, but it doesn’t look or seem to me, after watching the special features on The Departed 2-Disc DVD that they are going to take as much from the Infernal Affairs franchise considering the “other” story the film is based on.
The Departed prequel is almost laid out for you with a special feature on the second disc on the DVD called “Stranger than Fiction” in which it goes into the inspiration for the film outside of Infernal Affairs, and that being South Boston mobster James J. “Whitey” Bulger who is currently on the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list and served as a loose inspiration for the story of The Departed and Jack Nicholson’s Frank Costello character.
This article is nothing but speculation, but after watching the feature I mentioned it was certainly a story tailor made for a movie and with Scorsese already involved and Monahan already writing one killer script I don’t see anything stopping them from making another one… or two.
After reading this and then seeing the “Stranger than Fiction” feature on the DVD I could pretty much see the entire prequel laid out before me, that is considering they continue on the Jack Nicholson story and his comparisons to Whitey. You see, Whitey had a brother named William Michael Bulger who became President of the Massachusetts State Senate and rumors of him working with his brother are all over the place and he was even brought in to testify over Whitey winning the lottery in 1991 in Boston earning him about $1.6 million.
Obviously that would be a character played by De Niro if what Wahlberg says comes true, and I am sure screenwriter William Monahan would beef up the corruption a bit more. However, there is more to the story and a few new characters would obviously be introduced.
First we have Whitey’s involvement with the FBI, something Frank Costello was also involved in in The Departed. A prequel would give the opportunity to introduce us to the origin of this involvement. In the Whitey Bulger story that man is John Connolly and he is currently in federal prison for racketeering and obstruction of justice stemming from his relationship with Whitey. Are you seeing the end of this movie yet?
The story is fascinating, as is the special feature on the DVD of which I will have a full review up very soon. I just wanted to get these thoughts down on paper as soon as I could while it was still fresh.
The Departed hits DVD on February 13 and the special feature I am talking about can be found on the 2-Disc Special Edition as well as the HD DVD and Blu-ray versions.
