ACTOR Mark Wahlberg, who earned a best supporting actor nomination for his role in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, revealed that he tried and failed to pitch a sequel to the movie to Warner Bros. The original, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, and Matt Damon was released in 2006, grossed over US$291 million (RM1.2 billion).
Wahlberg said: “I went into a meeting with [screenwriter] Bill Monahan at Warner Bros. to pitch the sequel ... and let’s just say the pitch didn’t go very well. He really didn’t have anything fleshed out, but he’s the kind of guy you just trust to go and write something.”
“So, when we were working on the script for Cocaine Cowboys and American Desperado, [I] said (to) ‘Bill, just go write. They like to have things well thought out and planned.’ It’d be a pretty good one.”
Monahan had spoken about a potential sequel of the movie in 2011 and at that time, his idea was to set the film before, during, and after the first film. The screen-writer was interested to cast A-list actors like Brad Pitt and Robert De Niro for the sequel, which would focus on Wahlberg’s character.
Monahan also admitted that his lack of bringing a synopsis for the sequel blocked the project from moving forward. “I don’t do synopses and I don’t pitch. Personally, I don’t know if it’s ever going to happen.”
