Image via Prime Video
Key Takeaways
- Titus Welliver’s new series is titled The Westies and features J.K. Simmons.
- Critical acclaim for both The Westies and Scorsese’s The Departed was noted on MGM+.
- Box office success of The Departed reached nearly $300 million globally.
- Welliver’s legacy includes his role in the long-running series Bosch.
A quirky coincidence took place on the MGM+ viewership charts this weekend. Titus Welliver returned with a brand-new crime drama series titled The Westies, in which he stars alongside the Oscar-winning J.K. Simmons. They play two men on opposite sides of the law, in a pulsating narrative that might remind audiences of Martin Scorsese‘s blockbuster crime epic The Departed and HBO’s landmark series The Sopranos. But here’s the kicker: not only was The Westies among the most popular titles on the MGM+ following its debut on July 12, but so was Scorsese’s movie.
The film was released two decades ago to massive box-office success and widespread critical acclaim. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, alongside a star-studded supporting cast that included Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Vera Farmiga, and others, the movie grossed nearly $300 million worldwide against a reported budget of $90 million. More memorably, it earned Scorsese his long-overdue Best Director Oscar, in addition to winning the prestigious Best Picture honor. The Departed influenced the crime genre heavily, and the impact of its cat-and-mouse narrative can be felt not only in The Westies, but also in the recent Netflix series Nemesis.
Titus Welliver’s Most Popular Crime Franchise Will Return
According to FlixPatrol, both The Westies and The Departed found spots on the domestic MGM+ viewership chart on July 13. The show premiered with two episodes on July 12, having received positive early reviews. Collider’s David Caballero highlighted Welliver’s performance, and praised the show for its meat-and-potatoes thrills. In his review, he described The Westies as “a classic tale of crime, deceit, and violence.” The series currently holds an 80% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, while The Departed appears to have settled at a “Certified Fresh” 91% score. Welliver became a household name thanks to the Prime Video crime drama series Bosch, which premiered in 2014. He played the titular character for more than a decade across three shows —Bosch,<em>Bosch: Legacy</em>, andBallard. The franchise will continue with a prequel series titledBosch: Start of Watch, which will be headlined byCameron Monaghan. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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