Screenwriter William Monahan Discusses Sin City 2 and the Possible Story for a The Departed Sequel
Posted 10.19.11 by Ryan
It looks like Academy Award–winning talent is interested in being involved in comic book movies. After all, this summer's Thor starred Academy Award–winning actor Anthony Hopkins and was directed by Academy Award–nominated director Kenneth Branagh (Henry V) while Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning two.
Still, it seemed curious when it was announced in August that Academy Award–winning screenwriter William Monahan (The Departed) had been hired to rewrite the script for a comic book movie sequel, Sin City 2. Sin City actress Jaime King later confirmed Monahan's hiring, after fans had become dubious of the news without any confirmation. To be fair, fans have become doubtful of any news regarding Sin City 2 since word of the sequel has been ongoing without any progress since the original movie was released in 2005.
In a recent interview with Collider, Monahan described how he was brought on board Sin City 2, which will again be directed by Robert Rodriguez.
I don’t know, I guess Robert (Rodriguez) went to my agents and asked if I was available. I had a conversation with him and it just went on for two week periods with a reading period in between them. It’s terrific stuff, I love being in that Sin City world and being able to do that hard-boiled kind of thing.
Monahan took over the script written by Frank Miller that was based on the comic book writer and artist's Sin City story "A Dame to Kill For" as well as two other original stories Miller came up with just for the sequel. Monahan said that rewriting the script was about inhabiting Miller's personality while he writes.
In this case, my job is essentially to be Frank Miller. I have to, as an improvisational actor, be Frank Miller while simultaneously being Monahan. It’s pretty cool because as a screenwriter, as a dramatist, what you’re doing all the time is inhabiting characters and improvising. In writing drama, there’s a great component of being an improvisational actor and there’s also a component of being an improvisational writer who can inhabit another personality and deliver something in the correct tone. Frank Miller is emphatically Frank Miller. That’s what I wanted to see in Sin City and that’s what I want to see in Sin City 2.
Monahan said that progress on the sequel has been "going like a rocket" and that he has been writing the sequel for almost a month. This will only aid Rodriguez's August proclamation that "the time is finally coming" for Sin City 2.
What is likely to never arrive is a sequel to The Departed, a project that was reportedly in the works since June of 2010. Monahan says that Warner Bros. would like to see a synopsis for the sequel, but then claimed, "I don’t do synopses and I don’t pitch." The writer also admitted that bringing back the cast of The Departed for a sequel would be "a hell of a paycheck for somebody to write." Monahan also shared what the sequel would have been about.
My idea actually is to set the film before, during and after the action of the first film, which I think would be extraordinary. Essentially, in the middle section of the thing I’ve intended, you’d see actions that take place during the original Departed, but aren’t on screen in the original Departed. There would be off-screen things that occur at that point in the story. But it would work seamlessly as a movie of its own.
The idea for a Departed sequel isn't entirely off the table. "If those guys want to cough up the dough, we can do it any time," said Monahan.
Well, at least we're finally getting Sin City 2. Or, at least, a script.