While there is a very good argument to be made that there are plenty of other movies in Martin Scorsese‘s catalog that deserved to win Best Picture and Best Director, “The Departed” was one that got the Oscar gold on his shelf. And while it might not be one of his great movies, it’s very good, wickedly entertaining, and manages to pull off the feat of being one of the few remakes that are better than the original (it’s based on the 2002 Hong Kong action flick “Infernal Affairs“). Now, the tale of two moles is headed to the small screen.
Deadline reports that Amazon is putting “The Departed” TV series into development, with all of the production companies behind Scorsese’s film — Vertigo Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group and Plan B Entertainment — shepherding this project, though it doesn’t look like the director himself will be involved.
Penned by Jason Richman (“Detroit 1-8-7,” “Bangkok Dangerous“), this version of “The Departed” will take place in Chicago, with a cop infiltrating a Latino gang, while a gang member works his way into the police force. The premise of the movies, and now this show, has always been a strong one, and the long form format does have the potential for the writers to really explore the cultures of both the gangs and police, so this does have promise.
Of course, the development process can take a while, but let’s hope this one moves a bit faster than that “Gangs Of New York” TV show that was announced three years ago.