Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, the film that finally won him an Oscar for directing, returns to theaters on December 4 for its 20th anniversary. A new anniversary poster, built around Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson, surfaced on November 11, and North American theater chains have opened listings for “The Departed: 20th Anniversary.”
The Boston crime thriller first opened in the United States on October 6, 2006, so the big-screen return lands about two months after the actual anniversary. It also comes alongside a restored 4K Ultra HD and digital edition for collectors. No screenings have been confirmed yet in some markets outside North America, including Brazil.
A box office hit, then an Oscar sweep
It was a hit by any measure. A $26.9 million first weekend put it at number one, and it went on to gross $291.5 million worldwide against a $90 million budget. Critics loved it: 91% positive from 285 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 85.
Oscar night, February 25, 2007, sealed it. Scorsese’s film took home four statuettes from the 79th ceremony:
- Best Picture, for producer Graham King
- Best Director, for Martin Scorsese
- Best Adapted Screenplay, for William Monahan
- Best Film Editing, for Thelma Schoonmaker
It remains Scorsese’s only personal Oscar win, after five earlier losses. He joked at the time that he won because “this is the first movie I’ve done with a plot.”
The numbers, two decades later
Run the math and the scale of the hit is clear. The worldwide gross of $291.5 million is about 3.2 times the $90 million budget. North America supplied $132.4 million, or roughly 45% of the total, while other markets brought in about $159 million, or 55%. For a 151-minute adult crime drama, that overseas share is striking.
The film is also the most recent Best Picture winner to open at number one at the box office. In 2008 it earned a nomination for the American Film Institute’s list of the top 10 gangster films, and in 2021 the Writers Guild ranked Monahan’s script 30th among the greatest screenplays of the 21st century so far.
Who is who in the Boston story
The film is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, moved to South Boston and written by William Monahan. DiCaprio plays Billy Costigan, an undercover state trooper planted inside the crew of Irish mob boss Frank Costello, played by Nicholson. Damon plays Colin Sullivan, Costello’s spy inside the Massachusetts State Police. Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Vera Farmiga and Alec Baldwin round out the cast. Monahan modeled Costello partly on the real gangster Whitey Bulger.
The sequel that never happened
Monahan did write a sequel script, which producer Roy Lee called “an amazing idea” given that most of the main characters are dead by the final scene. It was shelved because of its cost and Scorsese’s lack of interest. Infernal Affairs, by contrast, got both a prequel and a sequel.
Anniversary re-releases have become a steady part of the fall calendar. Badiyaa recently covered the 4K return of Bong Joon Ho’s The Host to US theaters, and Dustin Hoffman’s Criterion Closet picks from his friend Hal Ashby show the same appetite for older films.
The Departed’s 20th anniversary screenings begin on Friday, December 4.
Further reading
Image: Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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