'The Departed' TV Series Lands At Amazon
Earlier this year, The Departed producer Roy Lee said there was a TV series adaptation of Martin Scorsese's Best Picture-winning crime drama in the works. At the time, the producer said they were trying to figure out if they were going to make it a network series or a cable series, but it turns out it won't be either.
The Departed TV series is now being developed by Amazon Studios, who will produce the show with Vertigo Entertainment, Initial Entertainment Group and Plan B Entertainment, all the production companies who worked on the film, as well as Warner Bros. Television. However, the series will have no ties to the 2006 film at all. Find out what The Departed TV series will focus on after the jump.
The core concept of The Departed, which was a remake of the Hong Kong crime drama Infernal Affairs, was a detective going undercover to incriminate a crime ring, all while the police department was already being infiltrated by someone with ties to the criminals. That same concept will be used for the show, but it won't be set in Boston, and it won't be about bringing down a section of the Irish mob.
Instead, Deadline reports The Departed TV series will bring the action to present-day Chicago, set in the middle of the conflict of some ethnic drug gangs who are at war with each other. The police department sends in a young cop to go undercover in a ruthless Latino gang while the gang itself has a man they've placed in the police department. And just like the movie, the two are trying to do their jobs without blowing their covers while also trying to expose each other.
It's probably for the best that the show isn't trying to remake the movie in the same setting with the same roster of characters. It would always be compared to the movie, and it's a story we've already seen play out in that fashion. But by changing the setting up a little bit and bringing in some new characters, there's a chance this could be a compelling series. Plus, as someone who loved The Chicago Code and was sad to see it get canceled after just one season back in 2011, I'm happy to see The Departed utilizing the corrupt world of The Windy City.
The Departed TV series will be written by Detroit 187 creator Jason Richman, but no director has been hired to direct the pilot just yet. More than likely The Departed will be part of Amazon's next batch of pilots, but we'll be waiting awhile before we see it come together since this past weekend just saw the debut of their latest round of TV shows hoping to get a series order.
Amazon is really making some strides in their original programming, going for bigger targets for new shows. The Departed is the second feature film getting turned into a TV show at Amazon following a series order of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski in the role previously played by Harrison Ford, Alec Baldwin, Ben Affleck and most recently Chris Pine. Here's hoping The Departed will turn out to be something worth streaming.