In the year 2016, a consortium of world governments came together to decree that any movie created prior to 2010 must no longer be only a movie. Once a film has been around for at least ten years, it must be adapted into a television series or else its creators shall be launched out of a cannon into the sun. Such was their decree and so it goes that Martin Scorsese‘s Oscar-winning 2006 film The Departed is now being adapted into a television series on Amazon, according to Deadline. Somewhere, in a faraway castle, a circle of shadowy men and women that comprise the Illuminati imperiously steeple their fingers, and laugh in terrifying, Lovecraftian unison as their plan comes to fruition.
The crime drama series, written by Detroit 1-8-7 creator Jason Richman, will take place neither in the Boston of the 2006 film nor the Hong Kong of Infernal Affairs, the 2002 thriller on which Scorsese’s film was based. Rather, this version of The Departed is taking the action to present-day Chicago, and will center on a young cop who goes undercover in a Latino gang, which has also placed a mole of its own in the Chicago police department. The two undercover operatives enter into an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse with one another, as they must fulfill their mission and maintain their cover in the face of increasingly insurmountable odds.
The TV adaptation will be produced by Amazon Studios, as well as Plan B Entertainment, Vertigo Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group, and Warner Bros. TV. This marks the second major movie-to-TV adaptation in recent weeks for Amazon Video, which recently picked up a John Krasinski-starring Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan series. Considering that the 2006 film made $290 million worldwide (and only cost $90 million to make) and won four Academy Awards (including best picture), it seems like a safe bet to make the leap from silver screen to the small screen. That being said, I must confess my disappointment that it won’t be set in Boston anymore, but that’s primarily due to a fierce loyalty to my old stomping grounds more than anything else.
What do you think of Amazon’s new The Departed series? Who should star in it? What other films deserve a TV adaptation? Let us know in the comments below.
Image: Warner Bros.
Dan Casey is the senior editor of Nerdist and the author of books about Star Wars and the Avengers. Follow him on Twitter (@Osteoferocious).
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