In what has to be one of the most unexpected pieces of movie news I’ve read in a while, Vulture are reporting that Mark Wahlberg is going to be starring alongside Justin Bieber in a film that they’ve pitched to Paramount. He didn’t give away too much in terms of details, but did say that the child singer is really excited to be doing it. (Naturally, the man is an utter legend.)
No directors, writers, or producers have been mentioned yet (though Wahlberg could well take on a producing role if he wanted to), but Wahlberg suggests that details may be coming our way soon. From what little he did give away, the film will see,
“a reluctant mentor in an inner-city environment.”
This is the kind of role that you just know Wahlberg would nail from start to finish. He’s been absolutely brilliant in everything he’s starred in to date, and he’s far away one of my favourite actors working at the moment. Before we see him and Bieber starring in anything together, we can look forward to seeing him next year in Contraband, alongside Kate Beckinsale, J.K. Simmons, and Ben Foster, as well as Seth MacFarlane’s feature debut, Ted, which sounds like it will be nothing short of genius.
I can say with no shame that I have not seen anything that Bieber has acted in already, so I must admit that my knowledge of his acting skills is fairly limited. In all honesty, I wouldn’t have expected much, but I have nothing but respect for Mark Wahlberg, so if he says that Bieber can act, then I trust him.
He also says in the interview that he is talking with David O. Russell about doing three projects together. Following the success of The Fighter, which won two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, there’s been talk of doing a sequel of the Ward vs. Gatti fight trilogy that follows on from the film, so we can expect that to be one of the three projects.
He’s also set to star in the video game adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune with Russell at the helm, so that is likely the second of the three projects. As to what the third is, I’m not sure, but you can be sure that I will be keeping my ears pressed to the ground, because it was so clear that the pair worked so well together on The Fighter. Wahlberg also notes that the director’s been wanting to work with Britney Spears for a while now, and that she might surface in some way in one of the three projects they’re working on together.
