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In August, Mark Wahlberg joined the comic adaptation of 2 Guns just as The Fighter director David O. Russell was dropping out. Looks like Wahlberg will reunite with his Contraband director instead.
Variety reports that Baltasar Kormákur is in negotiations to direct 2 Guns which follows a DEA agent and a naval intelligence officer who separately go undercover to steal mob money while simultaneously investigating each other. While not the exact same plot, Contraband, as revealed in the movie's first trailer, sees Wahlberg brought back into the world of smuggling in order to save his family. Reportedly, the trailer got good online buzz, which helped convince the studio to hire the Icelandic director.
more about 2 Guns >> Posted 10.04.11 by Ryan -
In January, The Fighter director David O. Russell began negotiations to take over writing and directing Universal’s adaptation of the Boom! Studios comic book 2 Guns, which had been in development since 2008. With a script in place from TV writer Blake Masters (Brotherhood) and actors Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson attached to star as two undercover agents trying to investigate each other while pulling off a job to steal from the mafia and have no idea about the real identity of the other.
While Wilson eventually left the project, THR reports that Mark Wahlberg is entering into final negotiations to join the movie, which would reunite him with his Fighter director. There's only one problem: Both Russell and Vaughn have dropped out.
new roles for Morgan Freeman and Eddie Murphy >> Posted 08.11.11 by Ryan -
After pairing together for the March thriller Limitless, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are looking to reunite for The Silver Lining Playbook, the next movie from The Fighter director David O. Russell.
Based on the 2008 novel by Matthew Quick, The Silver Lining Playbook follows a former high school teacher who is released from a mental institution into the custody of his mother. He then tries to win back his ex-wife but falls for his neighbor instead. Cooper was originally attached to the role, but recently it looked like Russell was going to re-team with Fighter actor and producer Mark Wahlberg instead. Deadline reports that Wahlberg had to drop out due to scheduling issues, and now Cooper is back in talks.
What part De Niro will play is unknown, though the report adds that Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: First Class) will play the part of Cooper's neighbor after Anne Hathaway has dropped out due to conflicts with her The Dark Knight Rises shooting schedule. Production will begin this fall.
more Gangster Squad, Bowden becomes a nurse in 3D >> Posted 08.03.11 by Ryan -
Earlier this month, director Neil Burger (Limitless) took over helming duties on Sony Pictures' adaptation of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune from David O. Russell (The Fighter) after Sony Pictures balked at Russell's unconventional script that turned the Playstation video game from a solo-led adventure to one that included a whole family of antiquities hunters.
When Burger landed the job, what wasn't clear was whether the director would use Russell's script or the initial draft from Conan the Barbarian screenwriters Joshua Oppenheimer and Thomas Dean Donnelly. In a recent interview with Crave Online, Burger was quick to point out that neither script will be used.
who could replace Wahlberg? >> Posted 07.18.11 by Ryan -
Director David O. Russell (The Fighter) dropped out of his own adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last October, but explained in January that Lionsgate wouldn't give him the budget he felt he needed to make the movie.
Russell quickly rebounded, being hired to write and direct an adaptation of PlayStation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, with Mark Wahlberg set to star in the lead role of Nathan Drake. Like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies before it, Russell dropped out of Uncharted in May. In an interview with THR, Russell explained why he left the project.
what's next for Russell? >> Posted 06.15.11 by Ryan -
Since before this year's Academy Awards ceremony that brought Oscars to The Fighter actors Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, actor-producer Mark Wahlberg was discussing a possible sequel to the boxing drama. While accepting the award for Guy Movie of the Year at the Spike TV Guys Choice Awards (via WorstPreviews), Wahlberg again spoke confidently about the sequel.
We left out the Arturo Gatti fights for a reason, because that's for Fighter 2. We're not going to do Fighter 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, but we're gonna do 2. We're gonna do the Ward/Gatti trilogy.
more about The Fighter sequel >> Posted 06.11.11 by Ryan -
In what seems to be a common occurrence, director David O. Russell (The Fighter) has dropped out of another project. Russell left his adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies last October, and now has dropped out of the adaptation of the PlayStation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Russell was first announced as the writer and director of Uncharted last October, in what seemed like a curious choice to game fans. In another surprising move, Mark Wahlberg was soon cast in the lead role of video game character Nathan Drake, which left fans with visions of Max Payne.
what happened? >> Posted 05.27.11 by Ryan -
Mark Wahlberg mentioned a possible sequel to boxing biopic The Fighter prior to the Academy Award ceremony that won Christian Bale and Melissa Leo Oscars for their performances. A couple weeks later, Wahlberg again spoke of the sequel, which would follow welterweight fighter "Irish" Micky Ward's three fights with Arturo Gatti from 2002-2003, and said that, while the sequel was in "the early stages" he couldn't "imagine [everybody] wouldn’t want to go back." Count director David O. Russell among those ready to return.
Russell wants to write it, too >> Posted 03.23.11 by Ryan -
Mark Wahlberg doesn't want to stop working with The Fighter director David O. Russell.
Prior to the Academy Awards this past weekend, Wahlberg told Extra that he'd like to make a sequel to The Fighter.
Now we're gonna talk about doing number 2. We're gonna do the Ward /Gatti trilogy and make it real.
Wahlberg was referring to the three fights between Micky Ward and the late Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti that took place in 2002-2003. "And you know what?" Wahlberg joked to Extra's Mario Lopez, "You may want to play Gatti."
Who could join Uncharterd? >> Posted 03.02.11 by Ryan -
No one had Mark Wahlberg pegged as the lead role of Nathan Drake in an adaptation of the PlayStation 3 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (many were campaigning for Nathan Fillion to play the role), but Wahlberg himself announced his involvement last November. Wahlberg revealed he was looking forward to reuniting with his The Fighter director David O. Russell in a story that would follow Drake and his adventuring family, which could be played by Robert De Niro and "Joe Pesci.
Last month, an interview with Uncharted 3 game director Justin Richmond put doubt into the movie's progress, with Richmond claiming that Russell disputed all previous reports and that Wahlberg "isn't anywhere near to being confirmed" for the movie. Wahlberg disagrees.
Entourage to be a trilogy? >> Posted 01.10.11 by Ryan