Mark Wahlberg The Six Billion Dollar Man

Mark Wahlberg has a new comedy opening soon, ‘Instant Family’ and is busy promoting it, but he was asked to comment on another project that has hit snag after snag on its way to production, ‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’.  Planned as a big budget franchise starter, this movie would update the 1970s TV series ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’ starring Lee Majors as astronaut Steve Austin who is rebuilt as a cyborg government agent.  The film adaptation has seen two directors– Damián Szifron and Peter Berg– depart and was recently removed entirely from Warner Brothers’ release schedule.

In response to questions about ‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’, Wahlberg said:

“There was just a big meeting. It’s a matter of finding the right director. We’ve been close many times… It’s very reminiscent of The Fighter. It’s one of those things where you have to keep pushing, you have to keep plugging away, and eventually, it’ll come together, and hopefully, we’ll be in a situation where I find myself making the best possible version of the movie… Like with The Fighter, I think the biological clock is ticking. It’s gotta be, ya know, [shooting] by the summer of 2019, I think.”

Wahlberg’s 2010 drama, ‘The Fighter’ spent five years in development hell and a string of directors, including Martin Scorsese and Darren Aronofsky, before David O. Russell finally made it a reality.  The film went on to earn Christian Bale and Melissa Leo Academy Awards and Golden Globes for their supporting performances.

‘The Six Billion Dollar Man’ will most likely not win any Academy Awards or Golden Globes, but it seems that despite the obstacles facing it, Wahlberg is determined to get the picture made, with an eye on production starting in 2019.  If that happens, the movie will most likely be in theaters sometime in 2020.

Are you looking forward to seeing Wahlberg star as Steve Austin in this reboot?

Source: Screen Rant