HBO Is Planning "The Departed" TV Show
The announcement will reportedly come at HBO's upfronts.
Network upfronts usually serve as a series of "get to know the cast" events, and rarely does significant news arise from the network's meeting with the press and potential advertisers.
That is all about to change.
In a story currently being reported by darkhorizons.com, it appears that HBO is planning a TV series based on Martin Scorsese's Oscar winning film, The Departed, according to entertainment news channel WENG.
Scorsese, writer of The Departed, William Monaham and The Wire creator, David Simon, are set to executive produce the series which will use the same characters, but will reconfigure the story's outcome to make a more TV friendly version. This will not, in essence, serve as a direct sequel or prequel, according to WEGN.
The reports leaking are that the story will move away from the two moles (played by Damon and DiCaprio in the film) and spread its attention across the ensemble, and will investigate the backgrounds of characters such as Captains Ellerby and Queenan.
The network has reportedly given the series a 13-episode order, with production to start in September, and airing sometime in the fall of 2009.
