Mark Wahlberg Reuniting With David O. Russell For New Movie; Also Developing a Film with LeBron James

It's been six years since Mark Wahlberg and director David O. Russell worked together on The Fighter, and in the intervening years, there were some whispers that the two of them weren't getting along very well. Wahlberg was going to star in Silver Linings Playbook at one point before that deal fell apart, and the two were inching toward a reunion with Sony's Uncharted movie in one of that film's many configurations over the past decade. But now it sounds like they've patched things up and finally found something they're both passionate about.

The actor went on Facebook Live to promote his new film Deepwater Horizon, and during the session, he ended up talking about a new project he's working on with Russell:

David O. Russell and I are working on developing a script about Father Stu, who was an amazing priest from Helena, Montana. He was a very tough guy who was a fighter, a football player…anything but a spiritual guy. He found his calling, and decided, after falling in love with a woman, that he wanted to become a priest. He suffered from this horrible muscular degenerative disease but was still ordained as a priest and passed away, but not before he was able to inspire thousands upon thousands of people. I think it’s an amazing, inspirational story, so David and I are working on that right now.

That sounds right up their alley, and would be yet another example of Wahlberg mining a true-life story for content on the big screen. (He's done a lot of that lately with The Fighter, Pain & Gain, Lone Survivor, and Deepwater Horizon.) Meanwhile, the former Funky Bunch leader is also developing a movie with basketball superstar LeBron James.

LeBron James and I are possibly going to do a movie this summer. It’s about guys going to fantasy basketball camp, and me getting in a lot of trouble and having to go at it with LeBron.

James was great in small doses in Judd Apatow's Trainwreck, so we'll see how he handles what could be a much larger role here. That Space Jam sequel seems to be moving insanely slowly, so I'm guessing it'll be years before we see that, if ever. Let us know what you think about these new Wahlberg projects in the comments below.