Mark Wahlberg to Return to The Buddy Cop Genre in PARTNERS

Mark Wahlberg's career has lasted so long, there are people reading this who probably don't have any idea that he started out as the frontman for a hip hop group called Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. (Look it up, kids.) While he started out playing very serious roles (presumably in an attempt to be taken seriously and distance himself from his goofy rapper persona), over the past few years Wahlberg has seemingly felt more comfortable stretching his comedic muscles on screen. Five years ago he made a splash in a buddy cop comedy called The Other Guys opposite Will Ferrell, and now he's ready to get back into that genre once again — but there's a twist this time.

Deadline reports that Wahlberg is attached to star in a new comedy called Partners from The Goldbergs writer Evan Turner. Wahlberg will play an L.A.P.D. detective who has a one night stand with a beautiful woman who (gasp!) he soon discovers is an FBI agent and his new boss on a big case. New Line is searching for the right actress to pair with the star, as well as a director that fits the material. With the right talent, this could turn out to be a lot of fun. It's being described as Mr. and Mrs. Smith with big action set pieces, which seems weird to me because Mr. and Mrs. Smith actually had its own action set pieces. Regardless, if Wahlberg teams up with a hilarious comedic actress, this could be just as enjoyable as The Other Guys. We'll keep you posted with more as it develops.