The Departed, Martin Scorsese’s "remake" of 2002’s fantastic Hong Kong crime/drama Infernal Affairs has finally gotten some images to accompany the chatter and anticipation.
Why did I quote the word remake? Well apparently, according to the blog just jared dot com, Marty informed reporters on the set: "It’s not a remake. It’s inspired by Infernal Affairs. Inspired by because of the nature of the informers, but the world William Monahan created is so different from the Hong Kong Film."
The informers that he’s talking about (if you’re not familar with the original film – in which case, click here and become familiar) are the characters played by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio. Damon plays the role of a gangster from an infamous Irish-American gang who is infiltrated into the Boston police force to act as a mole. On the flip side, there’s DiCaprio who plays the police officer who goes undercover into the gang.
Shooting started back in April of this year with a pretty damn impressive ensemble cast that includes the likes of the aforementioned DiCaprio and Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Anderson, Alec Baldwin, Jack Nicholson, and Johnny Cicco (who I’ve never heard of before but am including simply because he’s playing the role of Sad Sack of Shit… which is awesome).
The Departed is currently set for release in November of 2006, just in time for awards consideration. Personally, I can’t wait.
To check out a whole slew of on-set photos of Damon as the PoPo (and more), click here.