latest on The Departed

Chinese authorities have decreed that The Departed will not be shown in China, presumably because they did not like the scene where Chinese agents were trying to buy highly classified materials from irish mob boss Frank Costello (jack nicholson) and his band of lowlifes. they reportedly asked scorcese to change or edit the scene but the director refused.

and so, now it won't get shown in china. hmmm… considering that pirated copies have been circulating in various parts of asia for months now, i don't think this will make much of a difference. talk about closing the barn door after the horse has fled…

in any case, the movie's success (critical and box office receipts) has already prompted talk that interested studio bigwigs are floating the idea of a "sequel". there is no definite word whether scorcese will actually take the project (if it gets offered). there's also some buzz that he might actually consider doing a "prequel" to gather all the Departed guys together and this time with the added bonus of having robert de niro in the cast.

oh man, i would loooove to see that — jack, leo, matt, mark, alec and robert d. all in one big scorcese movie! (*rubs hand gleefully*)