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Studio Wanted One of the Leads to Live in Order to have a Franchise...

posted a year ago by MavKilledGoose (859)
6 replies | jump to latest

https://variety.com/2023/film/news/martin-scorsese-warner-bros-the-departed-franchise-1235735509/

Scorsese says this contributed to the end of his relationship with Warner Bros.

I prefer the ending in the original, which allowed the mobster-posing-as-a-cop to live, though I can't say I remember any of the sequels. I thought it was pretty Hollywood to end with gunfire and kill off the bad guy. They still had a franchise in mind because they wanted to make a sequel with Wahlberg. I heard Wahlberg and the film's writer got along well, which seemed to be confirmed by their collaboration on a remake of The Gambler.

[–] Redsfan001 (6144) a year ago

Not many directors left that have the juice to say no to a studio request/demand.

It's unfortunate because big budget films will certainly almost always be written with a franchise/sequel in mind.

Maybe 5 left at most??

[–] MavKilledGoose (859) a year ago

One of those five is David Fincher. The studio desperately wanted to do a remake of Se7en. They repurposed a serial killer script to be called Ei8ht. That script's co-writer, Ted Griffen, said they offered Morgan Freeman a truckload of money, but Fincher apparently urged him not to do it. The script was made into a film titled Solace (starring Anthony Hopkins and Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Presumably, in Ei8ht Freeman's character would have developed supernatural abilities, which would have been completely idiotic.

[–] PaladinNJ (21509) a year ago

Has to be more to it than that because Scorsese is one of those directors.

[–] JFZ (1459) a year ago

A Damon vs Wahlberg sequel would have been a lot more satisfying than the rat on the ledge ending we got. The high suspense of Damon trying to escape and free himself of what he got himself into, was kino. The sequel could've had more of that, but also dig deeper into how most crimes are basically gaslit by people who work for law enforcement, so the whole thing is just a cycle they perpetrate to keep numbers up.

[–] bozo_500 (13101) a year ago

that wouldve worked well, but surely the studio couldve still made a sequel with Wahlberg and Baldwin and brought in a new cast. the likes of Brad Pitt, Bale, McConaghey etc. obviously Scorese wouldnt be involved but couldve got a big name like Ridley Scott directing Departed 2.

couldve ended up making even more money than Departed

[–] MavKilledGoose (859) a year ago

The Dingam character was unnecessary. Not featured in the original, he was presumably created to kill off Colin and wrap a bow on the story. I still don't know why people loved him (Wahlberg got a supporting actor nomination. I thought Baldwin was better). If Dingam never existed, it would have given them more room to develop that world. Colin was ambitious, so a sequel, particularly a legacy sequel, would not have to be set in the police department.