Those who only know Joe Carnahan from Smokin’ Aces and The A-Team would be well-advised to check out his second feature, Narc, if only for a taste of the man’s true talents. The (almost painfully) gritty look into the life of a Detroit police officer — played by a never-better Jason Patric — is a solid, open-and-shut affair that’s secured a nice spot for itself in the cop movie canon since its late 2002 release.

Which is a big source of my own confusion here. During an interview with French site JeuxActu (via BleedingCool) in promotion of The Grey, Carnahan revealed that both he and Narc‘s other star, Ray Liotta, have been discussing the possibility of a follow-up. Read a rough translation below:

“I talked to Ray Liotta the other night after Narc and he has described the beginning. If I could make this film for $ 10 million and do what I want, I would sign right away. Creative control is more important to me that having my name in a big production.”

If you’ll allow me one second to spoil Narc (which came out more than nine years ago, mind you): I don’t see how they’d tell more stories with Liotta, seeing as the first film’s conclusion heavily indicates that his character died. If he comes back — and, with discussions going on, I’d think that’s the plan — they could go the flashback route, always a dicey proposition, or simply write it as if he didn’t pass at the film’s end.

Moving on from whatever challenges his return may bring about, we have to ask ourselves why and how they’d even do a follow-up. The Patric character isn’t exactly one I’ve felt a need to go back to — if only because his arc didn’t leave much of an impression — but something that connects back to the morally questionable world of the original and its own plot could be worthy of the required time and effort. Carnahan only seems intent on doing it with a low budget and his own ideas — which should make a difference — but I need the latter to actually matter. Until we know more about it, I’m remaining skeptical.

Would you want to see a second Narc? What are your thoughts on the original?