Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg in talks for Michael Bay's PAIN AND GAIN

Dwayne Johnson

and

Mark Wahlberg

may reunite to star in

Michael Bay

’s next film. Variety reports that

The Other Guys

stars are in talks to star in the darkly comedic bodybuilding movie

Pain and Gain

. Word is that Johnson is close to a deal than Wahlberg, but the casting process is still in the early stages. Wahlberg’s involvement will depend on his ability to find room in his schedule.

The film has been compared to the Coen Brothers Fargo and is based on “a Miami New Times article from 1999, "Pain and Gain" will follow a pair of Florida bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.” The script was penned by Captain America scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely.

This long-gestating passion project for Bay has a modest $20 million price tag, and is set up at Paramount. It will be produced by Bay and Donald De Line, who has been involved with the project since 2001.

Wahlberg is currenlty in NYC filming Allen Hughes' Broken City with Russell Crowe. The actor/producer has a number of possible projects up next, including Universal's 2 Guns and Adam McKay's football comedy Three Mississippi.  He will next be seen in Seth MacFarlane's adult comedy Ted and Baltasar Kormakur's crime thriller Contraband.

Johnson would be able to star in Pain and Gain before filming  the sixth and seventh entries in the Fast and Furious franchise, whic Universal plans to shoot back-to-back beginning next year. Johnson will next be seen in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island on Feb. 10, and recently wrapped G.I. Joe 2: Retaliation and will soon begin filming Ric Roman Waugh's action thriller Snitch.

I would like to finally see this project get off the ground with these stars. Bay has been wanting to direct this story for a while and I think it sounds pretty cool. Wahlberg and Johnson have the ability to handle comedy and action very well, so they would be great to star. What are your thoughts?

No author bio. End of line.
GeekTyrant Homepage