The Playlist are reporting that Universal has picked up the spec script Bait And Switch, by Matthew J. O’Neill, for Mark Wahlberg to both star in and produce.
Not much is known about the film, but it is set to be an action-comedy, so will likely see Wahlberg playing a role more like what he did in The Other Guys and The Italian Job. Wahlberg’s career has never really been that far from the spotlight, and it was given that much more of a boost after taking the lead in last year’s Academy Award-winning The Fighter with his incredible portrayal of boxer Micky Ward.
Though you might not expect it of him, Wahlberg actually started his career in the music business, originally a member of New Kids On The Block along with his brother Donnie (who has also gone on to have an acting career, starring in three of the seven Saw films), before starting Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch, who recorded the hit single Good Vibrations. He then moved into acting, and before long, was taking lead and supporting roles in Three Kings, The Departed, and Max Payne.
Wahlberg’s talents go beyond the music and screen, though, and he’s proved himself to be an excellent producer too, with executive producing roles for TV shows Entourage, Boardwalk Empire, and How To Make It In America. Producing Bait And Switch alongside him will be Scott Stuber (Love And Other Drugs, Your Highness), John Jacobs (Blades of Glory, Ted), Stephen Levinson (Entourage), and executive produced by Zac Unterman (Blades of Glory).
Already attached to Contraband, opposite Kate Beckinsale and Ben Foster, and the highly-anticipated Ted, from the creative genius Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, American Dad!), and with talks of a David O. Russell-directed adaptation of the Uncharted video games, 2011 is shaping up to be an incredibly busy year for Wahlberg. Here’s to hoping that it will be an even more successful one for him to follow the incredible reception of The Fighter.
