Son of The Departed?

SPOILER WARNING – The following article is highly spoilerific for those who have not seen THE DEPARTED. If you’re waiting for the DVD release on February 13th (though I’m not sure why you would when it’s still playing in theaters), you might want to avoid reading any further.

We cool? Good. This morning both trades are confirming rumors that Oscar-nominated writer William Monahan is currently working on a treatment for a sequel to THE DEPARTED for Warner Bros. While you might think that’d be difficult since almost all the main characters are killed, Monahan’s story is said to follow Mark Wahlberg’s Dignan and a new character that would be played by Robert De Niro. Scorsese has yet to sign off an a sequel and even if he doesn’t direct, he may stay on as a producer. The Hong Kong film which inspired THE DEPARTED, INFERNAL AFFAIRS, spawned two remakes; one a sequel and one a prequel. The only difference is that in INFERNAL AFFAIRS the Matt Damon character doesn’t die. I had some questions after THE DEPARTED ended (like, whose child was Madolyn pregnant with?) but none that I feel sequel would be necessary to answer. If Scorsese is down to direct, I’m all for it but if he passes, I say just let the idea die. Thoughts?