When news broke the other day Friday Night Lights would be making a comeback and following a new team in Texas dealing with the after effects of a hurricane, my brain scrambled in all directions. Did this mean a totally new remake or a spinoff of sorts? Would the OG cast be involved in any capacity? Would it give the same vibe and feel as the original series, which ran on NBC and then DirecTV for its final seasons? Taylor Kitsch has thankfully answered some of these questions for me, but I’d like to push back a little bit on his own ideas about what's coming. Hear me out.

Kitsch recently spoke to Sirius XM about the Friday Night Lights reimagining and as it turns out, the show has reached out to see if he would like to be involved. Amidst this, there's both good and bad news, depending on your personal bandwidth when it comes to Tim Riggins as a character.

The actor said to the radio outlet he’s “been asked,” also telling the outlet he’d “maybe do something for an episode.” He then ended the comment with “we’ll leave it at that” before actually giving us a few more tidbits about how he feels about the new series, which is bringing back some OG creators like Peter Berg.

How Taylor Kitsch Thinks He Should Come Back To FNL (And What I Think Should Really Happen)

While I’m certainly happy about the thought of getting an update on a character I adored watching and was always rooting for during the original show’s run, it sounds like we wouldn’t be getting Tim Riggins in a major capacity given the new storyline (the bad news). However, per Kitsch, there’s an easy way to bring him on board and have him pop in without having him become a regular on the show:

Listen, I know Riggins helped out Coach during Season 4 and could conceivably have ended up as a coach himself, but to me, the young jock's entire story arc was overcoming his family odds and learning to have healthier relationships. I never really saw him going down the same path Billy did as a coach. To me learning to be reliable and show up for the team was what Tim needed to thrive rather than just survive. Football gave him structure, but his arc was more one of growing out of one’s circumstances and finding a place (Texas) to call home.

On that note, a lot of fans would have liked to have seen him “officially” end up with Tyra (Adrianne Palicki). While I’m not sure that relationship would have worked out over the long haul, I’d like to think that Tim’s future would have been to be a good father figure like he was to neighbor kid Bo Miller early on in the series. Maybe he should pop in as a parent of a kid on the high school team or even on an opposing high school team?

I guess what I’m saying is I don’t care about how big the role is, but I’d like to see what happened to Tim Riggins between the end of the show and now. Even if it's only one or two episodes, I think seeing him as a coach on the field for eight seconds wouldn’t accomplish what I would want as a viewer, and I’m not sure the coach bit even makes the most sense for his character. Being a parent of a teenager or some other slightly larger role could accomplish that, however, if it was done well.

Don’t Get Me Wrong, It’s Great Taylor Kitsch Would Be Willing To Appear

Kitsch has been really active on the TV scene still in the time since Friday Night Lights officially ended back in 2011. He’s in the popular series The Terminal List, which has Season 2 on the way. He had a big role in one of the seasons of True Detective and more recently has appeared in TV miniseries like Waco and Painkiller. I wish he’d be open to a larger role in the reboot, but I’d be happy to see him appear in general and (the good news) he does seem interested in the prospect.

As he even noted, it’s possible that Kitsch could come back and not play a character related to the original at all, as he told Sirius XM he’d be open to doing both Riggins or a new role.

I suppose we should be grateful if he makes time between his work on The Terminal List and other big gigs coming to the 2025 TV schedule to sign on for a remake of the show that made him a household name. I am grateful for whatever we get, particularly given Kyle Chandler also recently admitted he hasn’t been contacted… yet. This is semi surprising given Berg has said he’d like both back for an FNL movie in the past. We’ll likely hear more in the coming months, however.

For now, I’m just saying Tim Riggins as maybe not dad of the year, but a dad who’s really putting the effort in? Where do I sign up?

Alright sports fans, get excited because a Friday Night Lights reboot is officially in the works. After hearing about potential FNL reboots for years, I'm hopeful this one will really get off the ground this time and be available to stream with a Peacock subscription. Honestly, I’m feeling great about its chances too, because it’s been confirmed that this new series is being worked on by the OG show’s showrunner, director and producer. However, there’s one original Friday Night Lights cast member I need to see added to this roster, and that guy is Taylor Kitsch.

Friday Night Lights Has Landed At Peacock With Its Original Creative Team

It would appear that Peacock is aiming for a touchdown with this new Friday Night Lights show. That’s because, according to Deadline, the drama's original showrunner Jason Katims, original director Peter Berg and the original producer Brian Grazer are all on board to executive produce the project.

They’ll be working with Kristen Zolner for Imagine Entertainment and Universal Television to make the show, which is also encouraging since the OG series aired on NBC back in the early 2000s.

While this is a tall order, seeing as Friday Night Lights is one of the best sports movies and shows, it seems like it’s in good hands. Plus, I’m here for the plot too, as the report revealed the following details about this reboot’s story:

So, it sounds like this reboot will tell a new story about a new team with a new coach. Seeing as the first season of the early 2000s series and the movie focuses on a team coming back from their star quarterback getting injured, it’s clear that this new story that begins with a devastating natural disaster will be quite different from its predecessors.

At the moment it’s unclear if it will feature all new characters, all returning characters or both. However, no matter what happens, I want Taylor Kitsch to be involved!

Now, I’m Hoping Taylor Kitsch Comes Back Too

When you look back at Taylor Kitsch’s best projects, two of them came from Peter Berg. First of all, his breakout role was Tim Riggins in Friday Night Lights. Then, almost two decades later, he worked with the director again on Netflix’s Painkiller.

I spoke to Berg when that Netflix series came out, and he told me he loved seeing Kitsch “shed the Tim Riggins legacy” with that true crime show. It truly did show off his range and growth as an actor, and it was great to see a project made by these two long-time collaborators.

Now, I’d like to see them come back together for this Friday Night Lights reboot.

Think about it, it’d be a great way to show off Kitsch’s range again, as they could cast him as this new coach – a character who could potentially be totally different from the the football player he portrayed all those years ago.

Or, if he returns as Tim Riggins, it’d give him the opportunity to play a grown-up version of his beloved character, and it’d offer a deep connection between the first series and this new one.

Either way, I think it’d be wonderful to see Taylor Kitsch back in the world of Texas football. Plus, considering his history with the show’s director, I think it’d be a natural fit to cast him in this reboot.

Overall, there’s a lot to be excited about with this Friday Night Lights show that’s being made for Peacock. Here’s hoping it really works out this time and that my dreams of Taylor Kitsch returning come true! Now, while we wait for more updates about this exciting new series, I’ll be going back to stream its NBC predecessor with a Netflix subscription.

The current labor strike in Hollywood revolves around a number of heated points, from reportable streaming numbers from the likes of Disney, Netflix, or Amazon to the increased role of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) in the creative process. Advanced technologies undoubtedly could make certain steps of the industry smoother. But there’s no substitute for the creative input of a human artist, and artificial intelligence can’t match the intuitive contributions of a writer, an actor, a director, or any craftsperson in the entertainment process. At least, not yet, if you listen to Lone Survivor and Patriot’s Day director Peter Berg. But that day is coming. And quickly. 

Virtually every creative in Hollywood is concerned about the rapid development of A.I. technologies, and the influence it could have on every aspect of the film, television, and print industries. As such, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are making A.I. a sticking point for labor negotiations, and a lack of settlement is leading to several major movies like Dune: Part Two being delayed. But now’s the time for stability, because Peter Berg says he has seen what is coming. While appearing on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast to promote his Netflix series Painkiller, Berg told the hosts:

It sounds like fear mongering. It’s really not. That’s how rapidly the A.I. technology appears to be evolving. Now, a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, or Christopher Nolan can’t be broken down into an easily replicated formula. That’s how Nolan has been able to create some of the best movies ever made. But you don’t think a movie studio CEO concerned more with the bottom line wouldn’t sacrifice a little to potentially earn a lot? This is where the industry is heading, if the guilds don’t take a stand, the way that they currently are. 

But Peter Berg cast a wider net when he told ReelBlend:

Sobering. Almost as sobering as Peter Berg’s Painkiller, which dissects the opioid crisis and the people it tears apart. It’s available now if you have a Netflix subscription, and is definitely worth checking out. 

While Friday Night Lights was not Taylor Kitsch’s first big job, it’s safe to say it was his breakout role, and to this day it’s one of the projects he’s best known for. Back in 2006, he was cast as Tim Riggins in Peter Berg’s show based on the film of the same name, and now the two creatives have reunited, 17 years later for Netflix’s Painkiller. While discussing this new drama, Berg opened up about seeing Kitsch grow as an actor over the course of nearly two decades, and he explained to CinemaBlend why he’s loved seeing him “shed the Tim Riggins legacy.” 

Both Friday Night Lights and Kitsch’s performance as Tim were critically acclaimed and wildly popular. The tortured football player was a constant among the Dillon Panthers. While he wasn’t a regular during the show’s final season, Tim Riggins still played an important part in the story, and to this day the actor behind him is known for the role. However, Berg noted that after the NBC drama came to an end, The Terminal List star was determined to not play a version of Tim Riggins over and over again. During the Painkiller junket, the director spoke to me about his relationship with the actor, and how he’s loved seeing him grow up and past the Dillon Panthers running back. He said:

After Friday Night Lights, Kitsch starred in John Carter and Battleship in 2012. Since then, he collaborated with Berg again on the 2013 film Lone Survivor, starred in a season of True Detective and worked alongside Chris Pratt in The Terminal List, plus he has his own show on the way that is within the Terminal List world. His most recent project on the 2023 TV schedule though is Painkiller – a fictionalized drama about the rise and consequences of OxyContin – which allowed Berg to collaborate with him again. 

The creator of the NBC football drama explained that he was excited to work with Kitsch on the Netflix drama. Speaking candidly, Peter Berg noted that the actor, like the families in the disclaimers of Painkiller, has had family members who struggled with OxyContin addiction. When it came to the Friday Night Lights star’s performance in the Netflix drama as Glen, a man who is prescribed and becomes addicted to Oxy, the director explained that his personal connection and skill as an actor really made for an “outstanding” performance. 

Taylor Kitsch does give a moving and heart-wrenching performance in Painkiller as a man who is struggling with addiction to this drug. He plays one part in the greater story about those who have been impacted by OxyContin addiction and the fight to bring down Purdue Pharma and those selling the drug. While both Friday Night Lights and Painkiller are dramas, this Netflix series shows just how much Kitsch has grown since his breakout role as Tim Riggins. 

To throw it back, and see where Berg and Kitsch’s partnership started, you can stream Friday Night Lights with a Hulu subscription. If you are looking to see their latest collaboration, you can watch Painkiller with a Netflix subscription. 

Minor spoilers for Netflix’s Painkiller are ahead. If you haven’t watched the limited series, you can stream it with a Netflix subscription.  

Netflix’s drama Painkiller, which tells the story of the rise and consequences of OxyContin, does not hold back from showing the pleasure and deep pain that comes with opioid addiction. While the show is a book-to-screen adaption of a New Yorker article and a book of the same name, the show's director Pete Berg also drew on personal experience to better portray the opioid struggle. In an exclusive interview with ReelBlend, he explained what it feels like to take Oxy, and how it helped them figure out how to film said feeling.

Pete Berg candidly explained that he has used OxyContin recreationally once while speaking with Sean O’Connell and Kevin McCarthy on CinemaBlend’s podcast ReelBlend. Opening up about what it felt like, he said: 

He went on to explain that it’s “undeniable” that OxyContin works for people who are running from pain, and the show directly addresses that by having Richard Sackler, the man who got the drug on the market, talk about how if people want to get away from pain they should “run toward pleasure.” While it might feel good for a second, the consequences are dire, as the show depicts, and Berg explained:

Speaking back on his own experiences, the Friday Night Lights creator said he has also tried cocaine once, and he told his son that “it’s the greatest drug in the world.” However, he immediately knew it wasn’t worth doing again because:

This journey is what’s shown in Painkiller, specifically through Taylor Kitsch’s character Glen. While we hear from families who have lost loved ones to OxyContin addiction in the disclaimers, and we see the creative way Berg depicted Richard Sackler possibly realizing the pain he's caused, Kitsch's character is the one that shows the timeline of what happens when someone struggles with Oxy addiction. He gets injured early in the series, is prescribed the drug by his doctor, and subsequently becomes addicted to it. The director said:

When it came to visualizing this spiral in the show, Pete Berg used a scene from Episode 5 as an example. In the sequence, it showed the juxtaposition of the highest of highs and lowest of lows of people using OxyContin, the Lone Survivor director went into more detail, saying:

As Berg explained his own experiences using drugs like OxyContin and cocaine, he noted how it helped them show the spiral of drug addiction. He also explained what he hopes the audience takes away from seeing Painkiller. Speaking to these takeaways, he said he wants audiences to think twice about what they’re prescribed and make sure they take care of their loved ones and check in on them, especially when they’re in a situation where they’ve been prescribed a drug like OxyContin. 

Painkiller is the latest limited drama to drop on the 2023 TV schedule, and you can stream it right now on Netflix. 

Spoilers for Netflix’s Painkiller are ahead. If you haven’t streamed the limited series on the 2023 TV schedule, you can watch it now with a Netflix subscription. 

Right after Painkiller’s disclaimer is read, the Netflix series opens with a fire alarm going off in a massive mansion and Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” playing in the background. This unique opening is how we are introduced to Richard Sackler, the man who led the charge to get OxyContin on the market and in the hands of anyone he could. It’s also what we hear the very last time we see the antagonist played by Matthew Broderick. 

As I watched the series, I was really struck by how it began and ended with Broderick’s Richard Sackler by himself, in his mansion, with a fire alarm going off and the lyrics “hello darkness, my old friend,” playing. It was incredibly thought-provoking, and to me, it signified the loneliness this guy might have felt having made all this money but simultaneously caused an insurmountable amount of pain. The show’s director, Peter Berg, had a similar thought as he started out his explanation about this choice by telling CinemaBlend:

This book-to-screen adaptation is based on Barry Meier's Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America's Opioid Epidemic and a New Yorker article by Patrick Radden Keefe called “The Family That Built an Empire of Pain,” and it follows the rise and consequences of OxyContin. At the center of the story is Richard Sackler, who worked to distribute and sell the drug. He made billions, as Berg said, but the drug has also caused lots of addiction and death. 

Thinking about the weight those consequences might have on someone, Berg explained why the opening and closing scenes show us how Sackler could have felt about what he had caused. The Friday Night Lights creator said:   

Based on Berg’s comments, it seems like he wanted to illustrate how Sackler might have felt when he was alone and had a moment to contemplate the consequences of his actions in that massive house. To me, the alarm signified the persistent calls to put a stop to the selling of OxyContin on such a mass scale, and the Simon & Garfunkel song alluded to how this guy had acted in a way that left him all by himself. It’s a illuminating and fascinating choice, and opening and closing the show that way really made me think about what Richard Sackler did, and how much pain this drug has caused. 

If you want to see if your interpretation of these two scenes matches Peter Berg’s, you can stream Painkiller now on Netflix. 

Taking into consideration what makes up the basic buddy movie formula, Spenser Confidential is a film that looks great on paper. The two-hander story pairs exciting up-and-comer Winston Duke opposite buddy movie veteran Mark Wahlberg; it has experienced action director Peter Berg at the helm; and it is co-written by L.A. Confidential’s Brian Helgeland, adapted from a best-selling series. The problem is that movies ultimately need to exist beyond their ingredients listed on paper, and when brought to life as the newest release distributed by Netflix, the basic genre formula is all it really has to offer.

Spenser Confidential very clearly wants to be the launching pad of a new series, but unfortunately what it brings to the table is a string of generic characters, and an overly-familiar plot. It has its peaks as it plays out its series of action beats and fight sequences with a comedic flair not typically seen in Mark Wahlberg-Peter Berg team-ups, but it’s a movie of mostly valleys as it unfolds trope after trope in the central narrative.

Feel free to keep count of the clichés on your hands as I lay out the plot, but be warned that you will run out of fingers.

The audience is introduced to Mark Wahlberg’s Spenser as he is finishing up the final hours of a prison sentence – an ex-cop shown to be not too well liked among the prisoner population via a cold open brawl. The violence excused away by a guard as “self-defense,” his release plans are kept on schedule, and he ends his incarceration walking into the welcoming arms of his elder mentor, Henry (Alan Arkin). Of course, what Henry fails to tell him is that there is a roommate waiting for him at home named Hawk (Winston Duke) – a tech savvy wannabe MMA fighter who inexplicably doesn’t know how to throw a punch.

Spenser starts to form an exit strategy, hoping to leave his past in Boston behind and start a new life for himself as a trucker, but finds those ambitions halted when he learns that his former captain (Michael Gaston) – a corrupt cop who our protagonist assaulted, leading to his arrest – has been murdered. A conspiracy is alleged as the finger is pointed at a police officer found dead, a suspected suicide, so Spenser teams up with Hawk to both prove the accused’s innocence, and take down those actually responsible.

A super basic plot never allows Spenser Confidential to get interesting.

By their nature, buddy movies are primarily meant to be driven by characters and the relationship between the leads, but even still there is some expectation for compelling story, and Spenser Confidential never even starts to get one going. There are some extremely minor tweaks in the familiar, like Spenser actually committing the crime he went to jail for instead of being the victim of a frame job, but that doesn’t take the movie far.

All the details of the investigation move the film in the exact directions you expect, and it fails to generate a single surprise or twist. Without saying too much in this spoiler-free forum, it’s obvious who the villains are just because of the transparency of certain roles getting a bit more focus in the casting process. It’s all simple and rote.

Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke seem like they’d be a great on screen pair, but the material doesn’t allow it.

A further extension from the bland script, the film is also unable to cultivate the chemistry-filled dynamic that you want from Spenser and Hawk. Part of it comes from a lack of parity in the size of the roles, as the focus on the former in the movie definitely outweighs the focus on the latter, but the issues are mostly rooted in character, and how Spenser Confidential never makes a real focused effort to develop their relationship. They both bring their own tools and resources to the case, but spare for a few training scenes there’s never a moment where they fully click as a duo.

Given their past performances and characters, one could definitely see characters played by Mark Wahlberg and Winston Duke clicking on screen, but the movie never gives them the material needed to show them as a good fit.

At the very least, watching Spenser take a series of serious beatings is entertaining.

What certainly works in Spenser Confidential’s favor is the fact that it doesn’t ever take itself too seriously, and the best result of that is its fight scenes, most of which feature the titular character getting his ass whupped and being able to walk away only because of stamina and/or outside help. It’s charming to watch a hero constantly get knocked down – either by villains, or, in one particularly great sequence, a protective guard dog – and then get back up to keep fighting the good fight. It’s an energy you wish more of the film had.

Rather than being a raucous buddy movie or a taut Boston-set thriller, Spenser Confidential’s profile as a viewing experience is more akin to a film playing on television on Saturday morning: something you can play in the background and tune in and out of without ever losing track of the plot. It could certainly be much worse, but there is also a lot of potential left on the table.

Mark Wahlberg is about to punch out -- literally, so many punches -- a new Netflix movie called Spenser Confidential. It's based on the Spenser characters created by Robert B. Parker, and you can stream the movie this coming Friday, March 6 on Netflix. This is Wahlberg's fifth movie with director Peter Berg but that doesn't mean Berg took it easy on him, and Wahlberg definitely didn't take it easy on his own body when it comes to getting "ripped" for the role.

Peter Berg already talked about loving how often Mark Wahlberg gets his butt kicked in this movie. And Wahlberg just revealed that Berg told him he needed to be fit for Spenser Confidential, leading the star to realize he never needed to do that for a Berg movie before.

That's what Mark Wahlberg recounted to ET, then added that when Peter Berg told him he needed to be ripped for Spenser Confidential, Wahlberg just shrugged like it was no big deal.

That was it. He makes it sound so easy! Not that losing 10 pounds in five days should ever be a realistic goal, and people who diet and exercise for movies usually have professional trainers and nutritionists helping them. It's their job. But still. I'd love to see losing weight as that easy. But I refuse to stop chugging Cadbury Mini Eggs like energy drinks, so I just don't see it happening for me.

Anyway, Spenser Confidential may be the first of many Netflix movies following wisecracking boxer-turned-private-eye Spenser. Mark Wahlberg hopes for more, but knows "that's the audience's call." He was thrilled to film the movie on the same Boston streets where he grew up. He was also thrilled to work with Post Malone, and keeps raving about him. As he told ET, "People are really gonna talk about his performance in this movie."

Mark Wahlberg plays Detective Spenser, with Black Panther's Winston Duke as Hawk, Alan Arkin as Henry, and Iliza Shlesinger as Cissy. The strong supporting cast also includes Bokeem Woodbine and Marc Maron.

Check out Netflix's official trailer for Spenser Confidential:

Mark Wahlberg has plenty of other movie projects lined up, including Good Joe Bell and Infinite, plus Tom Holland's yes-they-still-plan-to-make-it Uncharted movie. Wahlberg will play Sully and Holland knows he'll absolutely crush that role. On the TV front, Wahlberg is an executive producer on HBO's addictive McMillions documentary series, which airs another new episode this Monday.

Spenser Confidential premieres on Netflix Friday, March 6, 2020, showcasing Mark Wahlberg's more fit and maybe even "ripped" body. Will you be watching?

Director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg complete each other, and they are taking their longtime partnership to Netflix with Spenser Confidential. The action comedy reunites the Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, Patriots Day, and Mile 22 team. It also looks pretty funny. And, as Berg already noted fondly, Wahlberg's character Spenser gets his butt kicked A LOT in this movie, which arrives on Netflix in March.

Netflix's official trailer for Spenser Confidential just debuted on the Ellen show, so Ellen DeGeneres got to be the one to share it first. After that, Netflix released the trailer to the world. Check it out:

So. Many. Punches. But maybe Mark Wahlberg is used to that by now.

Spenser Confidential stars Mark Wahlberg as ex-cop Spenser, who -- as the trailer shows -- is just getting out of prison. He's ready to leave Boston for good. But first he's dragged into helping his old mentor and boxing coach Henry (Alan Arkin) into helping a promising amateur, Hawk (Winston Duke). When two of Spenser’s former colleagues are murdered, he recruits Hawk and his ex-girlfriend, Cissy (Iliza Shlesinger), to help him investigate and bring the culprits to justice. (She also gets to compare the crew to Batman, Robin, and Alfred.)

Spenser Confidential also stars Bokeem Woodbine, Marc Maron and Post Malone. The cast seems great, and the action comedy should definitely find an audience on Netflix.

If you're thinking Spenser -- is that the same Spenser from Spenser For Hire? Yes, this movie was inspired by Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland, the book by Ace Atkins. The character of Spenser (no full name revealed) was written into a series of detective novels, first by Robert B. Parker. The character was adapted for the TV series Spenser: For Hire and some TV movies.

As Deadline noted in 2018, Netflix made a deal with Mark Wahlberg, Peter Berg, and the estate of Robert B. Parker to potentially base a series of films around wisecracking but poetry-spouting boxer-turned-private-eye Spenser. I imagine more movies will be considered if this one gets a lot of streams.

Spenser Confidential was noted to be adapting Wonderland but changing details from the novel, since it starts with Spenser coming out of prison and stripped of his P.I. license.

Mark Wahlberg, now 48, always has a lot of irons in the fire as an actor or producer. This year, he also has the drama Good Joe Bell (he plays Joe Bell) and the Antoine Fuqua sci-fi movie Infinite. He's also doing a voice for Scoob! And I'm pretty excited to see the McMillons documentary series he produced for HBO, which premieres February 3.

Spenser Confidential will stream on Netflix on March 6. Keep up with all of Netflix's 2020 premiere and return dates with our handy schedule. Here are the movies heading to theaters this year.

Like many filmmakers, director Peter Berg has actors who he likes to work and collaborate with film after film. Martin Scorsese has Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino has Samuel L. Jackson and Peter Berg has Mark Wahlberg. The actor-director duo has teamed on Deepwater Horizon, Mile 22, Lone Survivor and Patriots Day, and this year they team up once more for the new Netflix film Spenser Confidential. And despite their great working relationship, Peter Berg loves how often Mark Wahlberg gets his butt kicked in the new movie.

Spenser Confidential is based on a series of detective novels created by Robert B. Parker and later written by Ace Atkins. It tells the story of Mark Wahlberg’s ex-cop and felon, Spenser, who teams up with an MMA fighter, played by Black Panther’s Winston Duke, in order to solve a murder. But like all great cinematic crime-fighting duos, these two don’t always get along, as Peter Berg explained to USA Today:

Mark Wahlberg might be the physically imposing tough guy in many of his film roles, but it sounds like the shoe will be on the other foot in Spenser Confidential. Winston Duke is a much bigger man than Mark Wahlberg, and his character in the Netflix Original will be an MMA fighter. So the acrimonious relationship between Spenser and Hawk will probably be pretty one-sided if it turns physical.

It sounds like that’s exactly what happens too. Peter Berg got quite the kick out of seeing his leading man on the receiving end of a few beatings, which apparently allowed Mark Wahlberg to use his comedic talents. Peter Berg said:

It sounds like it. Maybe that should be Netflix’s pitch for Spenser Confidential: "Come for the action and the comedy, stay to see Mark Wahlberg get repeatedly beat up." Whether Mark Wahlberg’s Spenser will be getting beat up by Winston Duke’s Hawk, the bad guys or both is unclear. I suspect he’ll be getting it from just about everyone, at least until he and his unlikely roommate officially become best friends.

Although the two will start off as an odd couple bring forced together, just like Carter & Lee and Riggs & Murtaugh before them, it sounds like Spenser and Hawk will eventually become a team. It looks like the two are working together in one of the first stills from Spenser Confidential, which you can see below.

If Winston Duke and Mark Wahlberg have the kind of chemistry that Mark Wahlberg had with Will Ferrell in The Other Guys, Spenser Confidential could be a real winner for Netflix. In addition to the duo, Spenser Confidential also stars Colleen Camp, Alan Arkin, Bokeem Woodbine, Post Malone, Iliza Shlesinger and Marc Maron.

Spenser Confidential arrives on Netflix on March 6, and it’s just one of the many movies the streamer has planned for 2020. To see what’s headed to theaters this year, check out our 2020 Release Schedule.

Mark Wahlberg is here to save the day again, folks. Mile 22 has taken the hard road to theaters, and today is the day it arrives on the tarmac. But is it any good? Well, there's plenty of people with opinions as to the quality of director Peter Berg's latest film with his most frequent collaborator. But most important to us, especially in the context of this piece here, is the opinions of you -- the audience. Which is why it's time to rate and discuss Peter Berg's Mile 22, with spoilers galore. So if you don't want to be spoiled, and yes there will be spoilers, head back towards Mile 1 until you've seen the film.

If you're curious where the critics lie in terms of Mile 22's success, it's not a pretty picture. It's early on, but the reviews floating around on the internet have not taken too kindly to the film's brand of action. Even our own official review had the following evaluation to give:

That may be what the critics are saying, but here at Rate and Discuss, we're all about what you folks at home have to say. So with the aid of the discussion questions we're about to provide below, it's time to gather your thoughts and tell us what you thought of Mile 22, in all of its explosive glory:

As you proceed towards the end, preparing to share your thoughts with the world, we'd also like you to share your star rating for Mile 22. Using the traditional scale of 0 to 5, please log your rating in the poll below, and don't forget to share your rating and your reasoning in your comments at the end.

This poll is no longer available.

Last, but not least, we have some suggested reading for you to partake in, should you be hungry for more Mile 22 insight before you leave. First, we have the thoughts of the CinemaBlend staff as to whether or not they liked the film, and there's some pretty nifty insight in there. Also, during our own Conner Schwerdtfeger's sit-down with the folks behind Mile 22, he got some insight as to why Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg decided to make a film with an original story, rather than continue down the path of real life dramatics. Plus, Wahlberg spilled some rounds on just why the film had to be a hard R-rated gauntlet of violence. And finally, if you're a die-hard fan of the movie you just saw, don't lose any sleep over the ending's cliffhanger nature, as you can read about the good news that the sequel is already being developed.

With that, it's time to close up shop for the Rate and Discuss feature on Mile 22! We'd like to thank you for coming over to our corner of the movie world and chatting with us, and don't be afraid to come back here on September 7th. While we don't make these sorts of things a habit, we're preparing to discuss the terror that is The Nun on that very day; which means it's time to start dousing the site in holy water and circling every article with salt. Until then, readers.

Softer PG-13 titles generally define the modern era of action filmmaking, but now and then we get something insanely violent and hard-R. This summer, one of the key entries in that line is Peter Berg's Mile 22, which has enlisted The Raid: Redemption's Iko Uwais to deliver some seriously insane hand-to-hand fighting sequences -- such as a mid-movie showstopper in an infirmary. The moves may seem violent to the layperson, but in a recent interview, Uwais opened up to me and explained that the rhythmic sequences are almost like a dance to him. The Indonesian actor explained:

So, while those kicks and punches may look painful and hard-hitting, Iko Uwais and his team have carefully planned out every hit to make sure that it looks perfect on the screen. Some extensive choreography goes into scenes like the infirmary fight (which is essential, as Uwais wore very little clothing in the scene), but the preparation ensures trust between the performers, so they can realistically react without getting genuinely hurt.

Of course, none of that changes the fact that Mile 22 still delivers on the violence front. The movie is bloody and brutal, which was important to Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg because that violence and intensity reflect the real lives of actual CIA officers who spend their lives fighting on the front line of this type of war. This may be their first original collaboration after true story movies like Lone Survivor and Patriots Day, but they still wanted a sense of intense authenticity that's not often seen in the action genre.

Mile 22 centers its story on a group of special forces operatives and CIA officers known as Overwatch stationed in Southeast Asia. When a mysterious informant comes forward with vital information essential to national security, the group leaps into action to get him to a nearby airstrip (which is 22 miles away from their base) to exfiltrate out of the country. Along the way, they find themselves forced to go head to head against an elite group of corrupt cops and government officials, creating a battlefield that spans the length of the city. In addition to Iko Uwais, Mile 22 also stars Transformers star Mark Wahlberg, The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan, Furious 7's Ronda Rousey, and Deepwater Horizon's John Malkovich.

Mile 22 is now in theaters, and if you are looking for more information about the film, then you can head over to our full review of the movie, and then head over to our movie premiere guide!

Once upon a time, Mark Wahlberg said that if he were to intervene during the most notable terrorist attack on American soil, Sept. 11, he would have made sure a lot of terrorist blood was spilled. That is exactly the sort of patriotic machismo that his latest collaboration with director Peter Berg, Mile 22, trades in. But while Wahlberg's tone deaf statement was just the right amount of bravado to be funny (at the time), this current movie is so amazingly blunt about what it's trying to say that it forgoes any sort of pretext or thematic reasoning in the telling. Which leaves us with what's barely called a movie.

James Silva (Mark Wahlberg) and his special operations team known as "Overwatch" (Ronda Rousey, Lauren Cohan, John Malkovich) have a limited window to escort a high level informant (Iko Uwais) to an extraction point, in order to gain the intelligence he has pertaining to stolen nuclear material. As the clock winds down, and the 22 mile journey to safety begins, those who would silence this witness throw everything they've got at Silva and his Overwatch team.

Some might call Mile 22 propaganda, even though it lacks any emotional engagement in one's sense of duty or patriotism. As Wahlberg's protagonist berates his colleagues with every instance of historical knowledge that applies to the situation at hand, it feels like he's also yelling at the audience about how important his spec ops unit really is. If A Few Good Men's Col. Jessup ever wrote a movie, this would be the end result. The threadbare narrative is most apparent when the film tries to pull one over on the audience, in a turn of events that would have worked so much better if Mile 22 slowed down to actually tell a sliver of a story. It's a movie in a rush to bark at its audience about how we need people like this on the hypothetical wall, yet it can't even put in the most basic and perfunctory effort to lay things out in a paint-by-numbers pattern.

As there's a lack of story, there's also a lack of character in Mile 22, leaving all involved with very little to latch onto as actors. Mark Wahlberg and his cast are basically there to scowl, swear, and curse the lives that they lead as special ops soldiers, while Wahlberg reminds them of the important work they do. A particularly ugly subplot involving Lauren Cohan's ex-husband and their bitter co-parenting relationship left me wishing that piece of the story had been punched up just a little more, as Cohan seems to be doing the most acting out of this entire crew, and better material for her could have made this film a bit more bearable. Though, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Ronda Rousey's part is so woefully underwritten, it gets some unintended chuckles when she's called upon to do such things as blast co-workers for being "nerds."

Despite the rah-rah cheerleading that director Peter Berg and his patriotic colleagues do in Mile 22, you could have at least expected the slam-bang action to make up for the lazy, insulting story the film walks away telling. That's not the case here, as the action isn't paced as a relief from the "slow parts," rather it's the whole damned movie. And when the film does switch into ass-kicking mode, it's shot and edited in such a way that it's hard to keep up with the action. Basically, take a special ops thriller, dial down the exposition to scenes where the swearing is the vocabulary, and amp up the action to take the place of those pesky story beats that slow a movie like this down.

The end result of Mile 22 is particularly surprising coming from Peter Berg, as he's clearly capable of making a better film than this, while also appealing to the red-blooded patriot that exists in his target audience. Lone Survivor was a clear example of where a story that could have been mere pablum was told with the right balance of heart and holler. There is no such balance in Mile 22, and you're expected not only to like it, but to salute and ask for more. Perhaps the most insulting fact about Mile 22 is that it steals its protagonist from The Accountant and its perceived plot from Mission: Impossible - Fallout, while stripping away everything that made those films special, replacing it with mindless explosions and shoot outs. It may only be a little over an hour and a half long, but Mile 22 doesn't need that much time to tell you that it's thunderingly, insensitively dumb.

Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg have become one of Hollywood's most fascinating creative partnerships. Ever since their initial collaboration on Lone Survivor, the two have gone on to adapt several true stories such as Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon. These films proved incredibly intense for both of them, which was a principal reason why they wanted to do something purely fictional with Mile 22. I recently asked Mark Wahlberg about this during the film's recent press day in Los Angeles, and he told me:

If you have seen the previews for Mile 22, you know that it's not a happy-go-lucky romp. That said, the movie is more of an intense action movie with a throwback style, rather than a straight-faced adaptation of an event in which real people died. Because of that distinction, Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg were able to do something with a less serious tone and a more significant emphasis on fun.

Of course, it's worth noting that Mile 22 is still a pretty intense movie, regardless of whether or not it's fictional. Though it does not adapt one specific event or tragedy that has occurred in American history, the film is still an r-rated take on American special forces, and elsewhere in my interview with Mark Wahlberg he explained that it was important for the team behind the film to nail that intensity to honor the type of story they were telling. This may have been a more fun film for them to make, but it simply could not be done with a PG-13 label.

Want to hear exactly what Mark Wahlberg had to say to me during the Mile 22 press day in Los Angeles? Check out a clip from our interview, below!

Mile 22 centers on an elite group of America special forces operators and CIA specialists operating in Southeast Asia. When an informant brings them a critical piece of intelligence and offers to unlock it on the condition that he receive asylum, the team springs into action to transport him 22 miles to an airstrip for exfiltration. In addition to Mark Wahlberg, the film also stars The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan, Furious 7's Ronda Rousey, and The Raid: Redemption's Iko Uwais.

Audiences will get a chance to see the world that Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg have created this weekend when Mile 22 debuts in theaters on August 17. Until then, make sure to stay tuned for more updates related to the film, and head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide to read up on all of the notable release dates that are around the corner for this year.

Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg are teaming up for their fourth collaborating since Lone Survivor this weekend when Mile 22 debuts in theaters. The action thriller (their first original story together) looks like one of the more intense films of the summer, and that was apparently very much by design. In fact, I recently sat down with Wahlberg to ask him about Mile 22's hard R rating, and he explained that it was necessary to capture the intensity of these characters and the jobs that they do. Wahlberg said:

Some things just can't be done on a PG-13 rating. As Mark Wahlberg explained in our chat, this movie is based on the experiences of real-life special forces and intelligence officers, which means the hard R rating was required to showcase how they handle themselves in the field. That means bloody violence and some less than savory language.

Another interesting thing to note about Mark Wahlberg's remark about the hard-R rating of Mile 22 is the fact that Jimmy Silva was apparently supposed to be a secondary antagonist, rather than the full-blown hero of the story. Not only would this have positioned him in a far different manner than in his roles in Peter Berg films like Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon, but it also would've changed the focus. It's impossible to know what that version of the film would've looked like, but one may assume that The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan and The Fate of the Furious' Ronda Rousey may have had different rules in that take on the tale.

For those of you who are looking for a closer glimpse at my chat with Mark Wahlberg about Mile 22, you can check out a clip of the interview, below!

If Mark Wahlberg's particularly brand of non-stop action is your forte, then make sure to catch Mile 22 when it debuts in theaters this weekend on August 17. Keep it here for more updates related to the film, and head over to our movie premiere guide to learn more about the rest of the films that are set to hit theaters this year!

We're now firmly in the midst of summer blockbuster season, with a fair number of massive blockbuster movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Incredibles 2 and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom making great money at the box office by appealing to the whole family. However, August is right around the corner, and that late summer month has become a comfortable home for smaller and grittier action movies to make an impression. That's precisely the type of film that we can expect when Peter Berg's Mile 22 debuts in theaters, and a new trailer for the Mark Wahlberg-fronted thriller promises nothing less than insane, non-stop action. Check out the preview, below!

Take a second to let your pulse slow down, and then revel in the sheer intensity of those set pieces. Centering on an American paramilitary group operating out of Bogota, Colombia, Mile 22 focuses its story on James Silva (Mark Wahlberg), an elite operative in charge of getting sensitive information out of the country when an informant comes forward and surrenders. The action is brutal and tactical in the vein of The Raid: Redemption (made even more stressful by a ticking clock), and Mile 22 promises some seriously badass moments courtesy of Wahlberg and his co-stars Lauren Cohan, Rhonda Rousey, Iko Uwais and others.

The intensity of that action bodes well for fans of the genre looking for something more severe than your typical PG-13 romp, and the information that we currently have about Mile 22 seems to suggest a fair amount of confidence in the film's ability to draw in an audience. In fact, a sequel is already in development, and while we don't know anything about the plot or overarching direction of the Mile 22 follow-up, the wild nature of this particular trailer should instill faith in the potential for this burgeoning franchise.

It's also worth getting excited about Mile 22 because it seemingly represents the latest entry in a collaborative hot streak between Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg. The duo has worked together several times in recent years, gaining widespread acclaim for movies like Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day. Mile 22 looks like one of their largest and most intense collaborations yet, and this trailer bodes well for their ability to deliver the goods when it comes to tactical action, fight scenes and some genuinely brutal takedowns.

Peter Berg's Mile 22 is lined up to hit theaters on August 17. Stay tuned for more updates related to the upcoming action thriller, and head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide for more information about all of the other films that will debut on the big screen this year!

Traditional Hollywood blockbusters like to shoot on studio lots. The environment is contained. The action can be controlled. There's an important privacy element on the backlot of a major studio. Mile 22, then, shouldn't be viewed as a traditional Hollywood blockbuster. Peter Berg does not want to contain his environment. He wants his action to control his decisions. He doesn't give a damn about privacy, and invites the elements to interfere with his shot. That creates tension, and tension is what Berg craves while shooting Mile 22.

Which explains why CinemaBlend ventured to Bogota, Colombia earlier this year to watch Peter Berg and his cast -- including Mark Wahlberg, Ronda Rousey, Lauren Cohan and international fighting sensation Iko Uwais -- film an explosive action scene. And when I mean "Bogota," I literally mean Centro Internacional, the midtown section of the South American city that is described to us as "the Times Square of Bogota." And Berg has shut it down so he can film. Cars are on fire. Bodies are lying on the ground. A covert team of military heavy hitters is trying to get a witness (Uwais) out of a hostile environment. And there's about to be an explosion.

This is an incredible way to plunge an audience into an action sequence. It's also a logistical nightmare. Mile 22 executive producer Stuart M. Besser meets with us on set, in a café located mere feet away from the street that Berg's about to blow up, and explains:

But when you can get a shot like this, of Peter Berg and Iko Uwais (The Raid) standing in front of an explosion on the streets of a major South American metropolis, it's worth the effort to overcome those hurdles and bring a movie like Mile 22 to the big screen.

What is this movie about? And what is happening in this particular scene? Great question. In Mile 22, Mark Wahlberg leads Overwatch, a secret tactical team of U.S. operatives who are brought in to complete jobs that our government really can't sign off on. For their latest task, they need to bring a valuable witness (Iko Uwais) from an embassy location in a nondescript city to an airstrip that is 22 miles away. They're tasked with delivering Uwais' character to a transport plane, that only can be on the runway for a total of 10 minutes. And, of course, there's an antagonist who's blessed with endless resources who wants Iko's character dead, and will stop at nothing to halt Wahlberg's convoy and end Uwais' life.

Sounds easy, right?

It's about as easy as pulling off this scene, which takes place as Wahlberg and his team attempt to exit the embassy for the first time. To say that they encounter resistance is an understatement. Cars and trucks ordered by the villainous Axel (Sam Medina) storm the street. A firefight breaks out, while Iko Uwais -- handcuffed to a car door -- uses his feet, free hand, and a seat belt to fend off adversaries. And all the while, Peter Berg is using drone technology to hover over the action, capturing eagle-eye footage that just wouldn't look the same if you tried to stage this anywhere but in Bogota.

Weighing in on the authenticity of the action, and the approach that Peter Berg brings to movies like Mile 22, Mark Wahlberg says:

You can spot the street fight that we witnessed in the latest trailer for Mile 22. The church we stood near as Peter Berg detonated his explosions pops up at the 1:50 mark, but really, the whole trailer is about as badass as they come.

Mile 22 will be in theaters on August 3, and looks to be another hard-hitting, bone-crunching and throat-gripping collaboration from Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg, the duo that delivered Lone Survivor, Patriots Day and Deepwater Horizon. We will have plenty more from our set visit to Bogota on the site, so stay tuned.

By design, the bulk of Peter Berg's upcoming thriller Mile 22 will be set in cars. The plot finds a special ops team leader (played by Mark Wahlberg) who is ordered to bring a valuable witness (played by Iko Uwais) from a U.S. embassy to an airstrip that's located 22 miles away. The plane will carry the witness to safety. Only, every stretch of the 22-mile run will be marked by the presence of lethal antagonists ordered to do everything in their power to stop Uwais' character from reaching the plane.

Earlier this year, CinemaBlend traveled to Bogota, Colombia to watch Peter Berg and his cast film scenes from Mile 22. The bulk of what we witnessed involved a shootout outside of the embassy in question, as the team's difficult journey was just getting underway. But as we spoke with the cast, they started telling us about how Berg is going the extra mile -- no pun intended -- to bring an authenticity and a visceral intensity to his car-chase scenes, as they are pivotal to the bulk of the movie. Co-star Lauren Cohan, who plays a member of Mark Wahlberg's team, explained to us:

These rigs, built on the sides of and on top of moving automobiles, further push the point made by Mile 22 executive producer Stuart M. Besser, who said that Peter Berg's approach to on-the-ground and in-your-face filmmaking made Berg the perfect choice for this type of thriller. The producer explained:

This point was later echoed once again by The Walking Dead's Lauren Cohan, who was discussing an obstacle -- but also an added benefit -- of shooting on the run in a car while you are being chased, knocked into and shot at. She said that very often, while filming intense chase scenes for Mile 22, you were improvising because you couldn't hear direction. You were reacting to the events happening in the moment. So nothing was truly scripted in those instances, and your reaction couldn't really be wrong. Cohan said:

The intense automobile chases, and the fights that will happen inside, outside and around these moving vehicles, have us very excited for Peter Berg's Mile 22. In one quick fight sequence we witnessed, the ever-agile Iko Uwais was handcuffed to a car door, and used a seatbelt to disarm multiple antagonists. Berg is really plunging his audience into the action, and embracing the limitations that come with setting a chase movie in a series of steady moving cars. See what it looks like in the Mile 22 trailer:

And see how it turns out when Mile 22 opens in theaters on August 3.

This may be news to you, but Mark Wahlberg is not a commercial guy. That is, he wasn't until recently when he started doing ads for AT&T. So why all the sudden does Marky Mark have a change of heart? I'd like to speculate the company gave him "Good Vibrations", which seems somewhat in line with Wahlberg's response below:

I wonder if it was a sweet sensation as well? Jokes aside, I can totally empathize with an actor wanting to take a simple project fresh off the set as something as chaotic as a Michael Bay Transformers film. As Mark Wahlberg also adds, it helps that director Peter Berg was involved as well. Variety tells us Berg, who previously worked with Wahlberg on Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Entourage as well as other projects, is directing the new ads which will feature the entire services of AT&T all at once.

While helping out a friend and drowning out potential tinnitus caused by constant explosions on the Transformers set seem like ample motivation enough, it's not the only reason Mark Wahlberg has for appearing in the AT&T commercials. Wahlberg says that while technology isn't necessarily his thing, he can appreciate what the company is trying to do for the sake of his children:

I know some of you may have your jaws agape at the moment, but try to understand. Despite his dashing good looks, let's remember that Mark Wahlberg is closer to 50 than he is 30. Anyone reaching that age range can surely appreciate Wahlberg's honesty that the tech world is speeding up and sometimes his life is too busy to keep up. His job is to act and advocate, he can pick up on all the finer details later.

What's important here is that Mark Wahlberg is now in commercials, and judging from his first one, that's a good thing. If you're interested in seeing Wahlberg's AT&T ad be sure to jump over to the next page and see 90 seconds of him talking and plenty of TV references you'll love. If you'd rather skip the commercials and get back to the television, visit our summer premiere schedule to see what all is on the way and our renewal guide to see what's coming and going.

Patriots Day is a tough movie to watch when we consider the real life pain it depicts. The film tackles so many horrific acts that took place incredibly recently on American soil that the production needed to approach every sequence with a delicate touch. I recently had the opportunity to ask Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg about filming the infamous Watertown shootout, and they revealed that they didn't actually film the sequence in Watertown in order to respect the wishes of a single resident. Wahlberg explained:

It's not hard to understand why Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg wanted to approach this situation as gently as possible. The Boston Marathon bombing and Watertown shootout are still incredibly fresh in the memories of Massachusetts' citizens. To film any of these sequences against the wishes of the locals would be in poor taste and dishonor the memories of those who perished. By working with the locals and honoring their wishes, Berg managed to direct a movie that feels incredibly respectful of the events that transpired in April 2013.

Slowly but surely, it's beginning to look like Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg have knocked it out of the park once again. Patriots Day has thus far generated strong critical buzz, and it seems like an incredibly faithful and respectful follow-up to their other true stories like Lone Survivor and Deepwater Horizon. At this point it's not entirely clear what makes them such a strong partnership when it comes to these emotionally wrenching true stories, but I have a feeling that maintaining a high level of respect has something to do with it.

Patriots Day is in theaters, so make sure to check it out!

On April 15, 2013, Boston suffered through an act of senseless violence at the hands of two misguided young men. In the subsequent days, the city's residents decided that they wouldn't let fear win, and banded together to bring the perpetrators the justice. Peter Berg's Patriots Days is the emotionally gripping -- if somewhat overcrowded -- story of the Boston bombing and the days that followed the attack. While not perfect, Patriots Day is a relevant true story that continues Peter Berg's hot streak with Mark Wahlberg, respects those who perished during the week of the Boston Marathon bombings, and celebrates everyday heroism.

Most of you likely already know the story of the Boston bombing; it's a recent American tragedy that remains burned into the memories of people around the world. The primary narrative centers on fictional Boston Police Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) as he works foot patrol at the Boston Marathon finish line. Unbeknownst to him or Police Commissioner Ed Davis (John Goodman), Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (Alex Wolff) and Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Themo Melikidze) are lurking in the crowd with two pressure cooker bombs and some seriously bad intentions. Once the bombs go off, the movie kicks into high gear and follows the terrifying manhunt that gripped the city and left 6 dead in the Tsarnaevs' wake.

Right off the bat, Peter Berg deserves credit for the themes he tackles in Patriots Day. The movie doesn't spend too much time delving into the rationale behind these abhorrent acts, and it generally steers clear of any ill-judged blanket political statements, which thematically works to its benefit. This isn't a movie that's terribly concerned with the "why" of the attacks, and it's far more interested in questions like "how?" How did an entire city come together? How were these young men brought to justice? There's a notable attention paid to the finer details, and the movie goes to great lengths to show how various government organizations and civilians worked together to get the job done.

With that in mind, it would be an understatement to refer to Patriots Day as a "heavy" movie. Once the Tsarnaev brothers' bombs go off and we see the carnage, the movie sells the weight and gut wrenching terror that immediately grabbed ahold of Boston. The bloodshed is hard to watch at times, but it's ultimately necessary to reflect the real life horror that occurred. However, amid the sadness and tragedy, the film also makes time for healthy and appropriate doses of humor and excitement. I was actually pleasantly taken aback by how many times this movie caught me off guard with respectful moments of levity. We laugh when these blue-collar heroes crack a joke in the face of danger, and we cheer when they score a victory because that's exactly how they coped in these situations. It's an undeniably human response, and the film nails it.

Not enough praise can be heaped upon the entire cast of the film for portraying everyone involved in the events of the Boston Marathon bombing with respect and poise. The performances feel entirely authentic, and nobody ever tries to steal scenes or overact in any significant fashion - which ties into the sort of no-frills filmmaking that Peter Berg has become known for. Special credit is due to J.K. Simmons as the endlessly charismatic Watertown Police Department Sergeant Jeff Pugliese, as well as Alex Wolff and Themo Melikidze for tackling the unenviable task of portraying the Tsarnaev brothers with incredible finesse. The movie does no favors for the legacy of these two bombers, but the performances are top-notch nonetheless.

That being said, this is definitely Mark Wahlberg's movie. He brings a certain dazed intensity to Teddy Saunders that sells the idea of a cop trying to do the right thing and seek justice in the midst of a situation far bigger than himself. There's a specific instance in the middle film when he gets a single, solitary moment with his wife (Michelle Monaghan) in which we finally see the weight of these events on his mind as he breaks down his tough exterior. It's an exhausting performance, but it's also one of the best performances Mark Wahlberg has ever given.

However, despite the strength of the cast, it's definitely worth acknowledging that Peter Berg sometimes has difficulty balancing the sheer size and scope of Patriots Day's story. Even with Mark Wahlberg's Tommy Saunders acting as an amalgam of a variety of different first responders, the film still has a tendency to feel very overcrowded at times, and certain plot threads seemingly disappear for large stretches of the film before returning to have any sort of bearing on the plot. This is by no means a death sentence, as pretty much all of the storylines are engaging in their own right, but it's still a pacing issue that noticeably bogs the film down during its second act.

That's actually something that has become increasingly noticeable within Peter Berg's ever-growing catalogue of true story movies. Lone Survivor unquestionably featured the smallest central ensemble of protagonists, and each character was fleshed out and realized. Deepwater Horizon expanded its scope to encompass an entire oil rig full of men, resulting in slightly more unbalanced characterization. Patriots Day expands even further to encompass an entire city of heroes, villains, and victims, which makes this unbalance become even more pronounced. If Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg want to continue expanding the scale of these true Americans stories, they will inevitably need to address how they approach the size and balance of their core ensembles in order to make it work.

Regardless of such issues, it's hard to ignore how effective Patriots Day is when it comes to making you fear the randomness of these attacks, while also celebrating the heroes who rose to the occasion. Even when Patriots Day struggles to keep all of its plates spinning, Peter Berg approaches the events of the Boston Marathon with a delicate touch and a palpable sense of respect. By focusing on Boston's bravery and perseverance, the film delivers a touchingly optimistic message that perfectly offsets its grisly imagery. Patriots Day might not be easy for you to sit through, but it's a film you need to sit through.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has cemented himself as one of the world's biggest movie stars, but that didn't happen overnight. One of the early movies that raised his profile was 2003's The Rundown, the action-adventure comedy that earned a warm reception, but underperformed financially. Since that movie's release, there hasn't exactly been a lot of passionate cries to see The Rundown 2, but director Peter Berg would be game to tackle it if Jonah Hill is involved.

While plugging his latest movie, Deepwater Horizon, with Collider, Peter Berg was asked if he'll make The Rundown 2. Berg acknowledged there have been discussions about it, and while he originally wanted to team The Rock and Kevin Hart for the sequel, Jonah Hill's involvement would get him to make it immediately. As he put it:

Since The Rock and Kevin Hart have shared screen time in Central Intelligence and are reuniting for the new Jumanji, putting them together for The Rundown 2 wouldn't be quite as special. The Rock and Jonah Hill, on the other hand, is a pairing we haven't seen yet. For those who haven't seen The Rundown, it featured Dwayne Johnson as Beck, a "retrieval expert," a.k.a. a bounty hunter who collects debts, who goes one last assignment to find his employer's son, and as is expected in these kind of movies, chaos and pandemonium ensued. Adding Jonah Hill into The Rundown 2 might be a fun way to revisit this series, with his comedic talents matching nicely with Johnson's own humor. No doubt someone is eventually going to point out Peter Berg's comment to Hill, and if Berg has his way, that will lead to official talks.

Although Jonah Hill has branched off into the world of drama with movies like Moneyball and True Story, his bread and butter is still comedy, like 22 Jump Street, Hail, Caesar!, Sausage Party and War Dogs (though that last one also had plenty of dramatic elements). Getting to work with The Rock in The Rundown 2 may be enticing enough for Hill to want to join. As for Dwayne Johnson, he's making sure he's keeping a consistent onscreen presence, from Baywatch and Rampage to Doc Savage and his HBO series Ballers. Fitting in The Rundown 2 would be difficult, but considering everything he's already packed into his schedule, what's one more movie?

Do you want to see The Rundown 2, and if so, do you want Jonah Hill involved? Let us know in the comments below.

The Boston Marathon bombing was a defining moment in the history of the city of Boston. For that reason there’s little surprise that there are two films trying to capture the emotion of the experience. One of them is Mark Wahlberg’s Patriot’s Day. While recreating the events of such a terrible day would be an emotional experience on their own, for one key moment the film has decided to go one step further and actually re-enact an event. Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz will be appearing in the film in order to give the same speech he gave at Fenway Park after the perpetrators were caught.

Peter Berg's Patriot’s Day is trying to be as true to life as possible. It will include actual news footage as B-roll during the film, though much of the movie has been shot on aircraft hanger rather than the streets of Boston. This was done out of sensitivity to Bostonians who weren’t ready to publicly recreate the traumatic event. For one scene, however, only the real thing will do. According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Ortiz will be going to South Weymouth Naval Air Station, the film’s shooting location, to recreate the speech he gave in front of an assembled baseball crowd. The moment went viral, mostly due to Ortiz dropping an F-bomb on the mic, proclaiming to the crowd "This is our fucking city."

The moment was such an emotional one that even the usually strict FCC let it go without imposing a fine. For a couple of weeks in 2013 it seemed everybody in America felt like they were from Boston. Seeing the David Ortiz speech in the film is sure to be a major emotional moment for those who were watching when it happened. The event was so important, and is still so fresh in people’s minds, that they likely decided that hiring an actor to play David Ortiz just wasn’t going to do the job properly. Anybody other than Big Papi won’t be able to bring the emotional weight to those words. You can listen to the speech below and hear how the crowd responds to him.

Time will tell if a recreation of the event will be the same sort of emotional experience that the original speech was. Patriot’s Day is set for release this December 21. 

It was only a week ago that Hollywood rewarded its best and brightest talents, which means that this week start's the race for 2017's winners. Apparently Mark Wahlberg's Patriot's Day looks to be off to a good start, as it's snagged an opportune release date. 

The Hollywood Reporter has reported that the Peter Berg directed film that focuses on the police investigation into the Boston Marathon bombing of 2013 has landed an awards qualifying release of December 21st. General audiences will get to see Patriot's Day when it goes wide on January 13, 2017; putting the latest collaboration of Berg and Wahlberg in similar releasing strategy as their last film together, the 2013 hit Lone Surivor.

Patriot's Day also stars J.K. Simmons, who recently joined the cast as Sgt. Jeffrey Pugliese, the officer of the Watertown Police Department who tracked and engaged the Tsarnaev Brothers behind the vicious attack on civilians. So, of course, having an Academy Award winning actor definitely helps the film's chances of garnering some crucial awards season nods. While Lone Survivor managed to receive two Academy Award nominations during its release, those awards were in technical categories. Presumably, Universal Studios was focusing on their huge awards push for Les Miserables at that time. However, there is one film in recent times that might prove to be a reasonable template for Patriot's Day's potential Oscar success: American Sniper.

While American Sniper was a bit of a controversial film in the eyes of film-goers and critics alike, the unshakable box-office buzz and unwavering patriotism that the film exuded managed to lock down six nominations and one technical win at the 2015 Academy Awards. Keeping this recent cinematic history lesson in mind, Patriot's Day could, at the very least, make a killing at the January 2017 box office. Of course, this depends on any other film that Lionsgate, the studio distributing the film, may have their eyes on pushing for awards consideration. Though don't be surprised if J.K. Simmons walks away with a second nomination in his pocket.

As with any awards season, there are no sure things and the competition could be fierce enough that Patriot's Day might not make the cut when compared to the other films attempting to make their dreams of Best Picture come true. Still, with its late December release date sitting as of yet unclaimed by any other film, there's a good chance that critics could forego that second showing of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story in favor of this emerging awards contender.

Patriot's Day is slated to go into production this month, with its December 21st release date rolling the film out in Los Angeles, New York, and Boston.

There are no less than three movies in development about the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing that killed three people and injured more than 260 others. When movies with similar stories come out close to each other, the first one to the theater usually wins the box office battle, and now the Mark Wahlberg-produced Patriots’ Day has taken a big step forward, hiring a director well-suited to the material.

Variety reports that CBS Films has hired Battleship director Peter Berg to helm their Boston Marathon Bombing picture. Patriots’ Day is said to focus more on the manhunt for the bombers and is described as a thriller, something Berg is well suited to. This won’t be the first time that he has worked from a real life story, either, as Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights, and the upcoming Deepwater Horizon are all based on true events.

Patriots’ Day is based on the account of Ed Davis, the police commissioner of Boston at the time. CBS acquired his life rights to use, and will also employ other details from the events of April 15, 2013. They’re also working in conjunction with 60 Minutes, which ran a story featuring Davis after the attack. Matt Charmon, who penned the upcoming Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks espionage thriller Bridge of Spies is working on the script.

Wahlberg himself is said to be interested in playing Davis, though the intricacies of scheduling when you’re a major Hollywood star may complicate things. Still, he worked with Peter Berg on Lone Survivor and they’re currently filming the action drama Deepwater Horizon, based on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, so perhaps this will tempt Wahlberg into taking the part. And for his part, Berg still has to film the action flick Mile 22 with UFC champ Ronda Rousey and The Raid’s Iko Uwais, so we’ll have to wait and see on this front.

Of the two other Boston Marathon Bombing films in the works, Lionsgate’s Stronger appears to be leading the pack at the moment. Based on the book of the same name by Jeff Bauman, a survivor of the attack who lost both of his legs in the blast while waiting for his girlfriend, that film chronicles his efforts to recover from and rehab his injuries as well as his role as a key witness in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the bomber who was recently convicted and sentenced to death. Stronger signed on director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) and Jake Gyllenhaal has been circling the lead role.

In addition to Patriots’ Day and Stronger, a project called Boston Strong, starring native son Casey Affleck, is also in the works. However, that film suffered a set back a few months ago as director Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) split from the production citing the ubiquitous "creative differences," and as of now there has been no word on a replacement.

It will be interesting to see how this situation develops, and if all three movies continue down the road to production, or if one or another bows out.

A cinematic adaptation of the Six Million Dollar Man has been in the works for two decades now. Kevin Smith tried his hand at a script, Bob Weinstein waxed lyrical about the possibilities of a franchise, and Jim Carrey and Todd Phillips thought about making a comedy version. None of these ever came to fruition, but TWC Dimension announced details about Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg’s adaptation, and in the process confirmed how it will differ from the television version.

A press release from the studio announcing that producers Mark Whalberg, Stephen Levinson, and Bob Weinstein hired Oscar-nominated filmmaker Damian Szifron to write the blockbuster, teased:

Can you see where Peter Berg and Mark Wahlberg’s Six Billion Dollar Man differs from ABC’s sci-fi action-adventure series and Martin Caidin’s book. Cyborg? Well, Steve Austin isn’t a test pilot. Instead he has now been promoted to military officer. Which is a good thing, because while we can all probably imagine Mark Wahlberg as a military officer, it’s impossible to picture him as a test pilot. That would have been just stupid. Why? Because there was no way he could ever truly live up to the efforts of this man.

Argentinian filmmaker Damian Szifron is a surprising choice to write The Six Billion Dollar Man, however he is also an exciting one. Having originally created Los Simuladores, as well as writing and directing the follow-up series Hermanos y Detective, Szifron has recently been lauded for his work on Wild Tales, which he wrote and directed. That film was also awarded the Palme d’Or at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, and nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.

As you can imagine, Szifron was rather ecstatic to have been given the opportunity, and he waxed lyrical about the potential the film has, saying:

Szifron should have The Six Billion Dollar Man written by the end of the year, and we can expect to see it either towards the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017.

When there was an explosion on a BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, it spewed oil into the water for 87 days. Peter Berg (Battleship) is turning the real life disaster into a cinematic thriller, Deepwater Horizon, and in the process he’s putting together an impressive cast. There were a couple of stars already in place, and they just added two more high-profile actors to beef up the call sheet.

There were eleven crew members killed in the blast, and Berg, who took over the project after J.C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year) left over creative differences, has said that he wants to tell the story about the "real heroes" working on the rig. He hopes to honor the ones aboard who tried to prevent the explosion and subsequent calamity, and it sounds like he’s taking a similar approach as he did with the real life Navy SEALs in Lone Survivor. Let’s take a look at the key members of the cast, starting with the newest additions.

Dylan O'Brien

Deadline reports that Dylan O’Brien is in talks to join Deepwater Horizon in the role of Caleb Holloway. He is the youngest member of the crew on the oil rig, and though he survives the blast, he is traumatized by the death of his compatriots. You have to imagine much of his story involves coming to grips with this tragedy and struggling to survive. O’Brien is best known for two roles, playing Stiles in MTV’s updated Teen Wolf series, which is better than you might initially expect, and he also leads the pack in the latest dystopian young adult franchise, The Maze Runner. Last summer, the low-budget adaptation of James Dashner’s best selling novels was a surprise hit, and the sequel, The Maze Runner: Scorch Trials, comes out later this year.

Kurt Russell

Kurt Russell should need no introduction. He’s been kicking ass on screen in every way you possible can for decades now, turning out classics like Escape From New York and Big Trouble in Little China in the process. Variety reports that he’s is in talks to join the Deepwater Horizon party, though there are no details on his role just yet. It’s easy to imagine him playing a tough, seasoned veteran who knows something is wrong and heroically tries to avert disaster. Lots of you encountered him recently in Furious 7, where he plays a mysterious government spook named Mr. Nobody, but we’ll also see him soon in Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming western The Hateful Eight, and there are reports that he’ll have a beefed up role in Fast & Furious 8, whenever that happens.

Gina Rodriguez

Gina Rodriguez, fresh off winning a Golden Globe for her star-making turn in Jane the Virgin, which is delightful, joined the cast last month. She signed on to play a woman named Andrea Fleytas, who has a key role in the disaster and the aftermath. The 23-year-old Fleytas was hired to monitor the safety systems on the Deepwater Horizon. In the wake of the disaster, as the investigation attempted to discover the exact cause, it was confirmed that the overwhelmed young crewmember didn’t sound the alarm in time when the situation began to deteriorate because the company had neglected to train her properly.

Mark Wahlberg

While all these other actors are nice, it’s Mark Wahlberg who is the big star and centerpiece of Deepwater Horizon. He’s set to play the number two manager on the doomed oil platform, Mike Williams, in the story that is said to be a behind-the-scenes account of the 48 hours leading up to the catastrophe, including how his character and the other members of his team try to prevent disaster. The Matthew Michael Carnahan-penned script will also deal with the lesser-known story of the attempts to rescue the surviving members of the crew afterwards. This reteams Wahlberg and director Peter Berg, who worked together on Lone Survivor back in 2013. They must have gotten along at least reasonably well on that picture, because not only are they together again on this new harrowing tale of survival, but they’re also slated to work with one another on the upcoming reboot of The Six Billion Dollar Man (price adjusted for inflation).

Deepwater Horizon has its eye on a summer shoot and is scheduled for release on September 30, 2016.

The Rock might not be the most famous actor in the world, but at this exact moment, there are few personalities in Hollywood who can generate buzz and potential green lights faster. His presence can reenergize franchises, it can add millions to disaster film budgets, and it can apparently pull a sequel out of a ten-year-old film that was considered a box office disappointment.

During an interview with Collider about his upcoming film Lone Survivor, acclaimed director Peter Berg got to talking about The Rundown and admitted the project might not be as far in his rearview mirror as you might expect. He’s apparently been in communication with The Rock recently about doing a sequel. The ex-professional wrestler is supposedly on board, and he’s taking meetings with writers to find the right collaborative partner or partners to pull off his big idea for round two.

Obviously, Berg wasn’t willing to talk about what that idea might be, but it seems to involve someone other than Seann William Scott. Here’s the quote in question that would lead sensible people to come to that conclusion…

If you haven’t seen The Rundown before, you should really get on that. The film follows The Rock who plays a retrieval expert. He goes into situations and either returns with people or merchandise, depending on what his somewhat shady boss recommends. For his final job, he heads to Brazil to pick up said boss’ son, played by Seann William Scott, and naturally, all hell breaks loose, creating plenty of fun action scenes, a monkey fight and even some laughs.

Had this film been made a few years ago, it almost certainly would have made a tidy profit. The Rock’s status has increased quite a bit in the last decade. That’s likely the impulse behind making a sequel, and with a character that operates as a bounty hunter, basically, the format can easily be adapted for different films that offer a unique case but the same basic vibe.

Here’s to hoping this actually gets done. Until then, you can remind yourself of the original Rundown by checking out the trailer below…

In news that probably won’t come as a major surprise to anyone, but is still going to be disappointing to some fans, Peter Berg — director of Friday Night Lights, the film, and creator of FNL, the TV series that followed — says the movie that would have served as a follow-up to the series isn’t happening.

Collider sat down with Berg to talk about his upcoming movie Lone Survivor and during the conversation, they inquired about the rumored FNL movie. Berg responded:

Talk of a Friday Night Lights movie goes back to 2011 when the NBC series wrapped up. However, since then, the cast has scattered, going on to pick up other projects. For Connie Britton, who played Coach Taylor’s wife Tami, it’s a steady gig on ABC’s country music drama Nashville, while Kyle Chandler has taken roles in films like Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and the upcoming Scorsese pic The Wolf on Wall Street. Aimee Teegarden, who played the Taylor daughter Julie, is set to star in the CW’s new sci-fi teen drama Star-Crossed, which debuts during Midseason. And those are just three of Friday Night Lights’s stars. Gathering the full -- or even a satisfactory partial -- cast that included all or most of the fan favorites would’ve been a challenge on its own.

As a fan of the series, I’d certainly see a(nother) Friday Night Lights movie, but I’m not particularly devastated that it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Among the series that "need" a follow-up film, Friday Night Lights isn’t particularly high on that list mainly because the series ended really well, which is a lot more than can be said for other TV shows that were either cancelled before their time or else, ended poorly for whatever the reason. I wouldn’t even argue that the series was cancelled too soon. While it’s definitely true that the drama never earned the ratings it deserved, it had a solid five-season run and it didn’t overstay its welcome. So it seems, for now, the series is where this story ends. But factoring in the ongoing trend of reboots and remakes in Hollywood, let’s face it, there’s always the chance we’ll see the Dillon Panthers back on the screen, either big or small. Clear eyes, full hearts. Can’t lose!

You’ll find Friday Night Lights on our list of 100+ Netflix TV offerings available to binge-watch over the holidays.

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Lone Survivor doesn't look much like your usual end-of-year awards hopeful, a war movie crammed with action scenes and stars like Mark Wahlberg and Taylor Kitsch. But the buzz surrounding the next film from Peter Berg suggests Lone Survivor might be worthy after all. Due in theaters on December 27, Lone Survivor recounts the true story of what happened on June 28, 2005, when Seal Team 10 attempted to capture a Taliban leader and encountered deadly obstacles in the process. And as you can see in the latest trailer, which you can watch in high-res at Apple, something as simple as sparing the life of a innocent kid can be the one mistake that causes true disaster.

As you can tell from the pull-quotes featured in this trailer, from the likes of Bill Simmons and Peter Travers, The Lone Survivor isn't your average war movie, and may serve as a kind of redemption for both its director and one of its stars. No, I don't mean Mark Wahlberg-- he made a masterpiece this year already, remember?-- but Taylor Kitsch, who with director Peter Berg brought upon the world last year's Battleship. There's no better way to recover from an expensive stumble than to stick the landing on the next go-round, and Berg-- who made one very good war film already with The Kingdom-- seems to have taken that to heart. It's hard to get into the macho balance of humor and action within a single trailer, but I like what we're seeing here. If it's a lot of watching Kitsch and Wahlberg rib each other, with a little bit of action thrown in, that's actually perfectly fine.

Berg explained more about what he's doing with Lone Survivor in a recent behind-the-scenes featurette, which you can also watch below. In addition to Kitsch and Wahlberg the cast includes Ben Foster, Eric Bana, Jerry Ferrara (a.k.a. Entourage's Turtle), Alexander Ludwig (Cato of The Hunger Games) and Emile Hirsch, which makes it at the very least a showcase for a lot of young actors who deserve good work. Whether we can find them amid the chaos and bullets of war is something we'll have to wait until December 27 to see in action.

"Been around the world twice. Talked to everyone once. There ain't nothing I can't do. No sky's too high. No sea's too rough. Learned a lot of lessons in my life. Never shoot a large caliber man with a small caliber bullet. Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards. I'm a lover. I'm a fighter. I'm a UDT Navy SEAL diver." This is the creed Alexander Ludwig delivers in the upcoming military drama Lone Survivor, and it serves as a bold introduction to Yahoo's behind-the-scenes featurette

Based on Marcus Luttrell's non-fiction book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10, this feature from writer-director Peter Berg tells the story of SEAL 10's failed mission on June 28th, 2005. Known as "Operation Red Wings," the objective was to capture and kill notorious Taliban leader Ahmad Shahd, but--as you may have guessed from the tile--the book's author was the only survivor of this endeavor.

"The prime objective was just to find this Taliban leader," Berg explains in the above featurette, "but they got there and things just started going wrong." Mark Wahlberg stars as Luttrell, and is joined by Ludwig, Emile Hirsch, Eric Bana, Ben Foster, and Taylor Kitsch. Speaking of his cast, Berg says, "The actors knew they had a responsibility to capture that warrior spirit that these men had." Lutrell also makes an appearance in this vid to recount part of his incredible survivor story. "He believes the reason he survived," Berg offers, "is to make sure people remember who these guys were and how they died. He was going to make sure I understood what happened on that mountain."

Lone Survivor has been a passion project for Berg since 2007. This look behind the scenes makes clear the earnestness he has for making this film something special that speaks to the experience of being a soldier in a no-win situation. However, good intentions alone don't make good movies. And Berg's past is checkered with hits and misses. Sure, he helmed hits like the beloved football drama Friday Night Lights and the Will Smith-fronted superhero adventure Hancock. But he also directed such flops as the 2007 espionage thriller The Kingdom and the atrocious sci-fi actioner Battleship, which boasted a $209 million dollar price tag, was ravaged by critics and made only $65 million domestically.

Here's hoping his latest team-up with failed leading man Taylor Kitsch will be better. After Battleship sank, both of their reputations could use it.

Lone Survivor will open in limited release on December 27th, 2013. A wider release will follow on January 10th, 2014.

While Peter Berg has had some successes as a director, from the $200 million hit Hancock to the TV show-spawning Friday Night Lights, his last film was not one of them. Battleship cost Universal a reported $209 million to make and only managed to make $65 million domestically, and while it did fairly well overseas - pulling in $237 million - it was still considered a disappointment.

But Berg hasn't let it get him down. He has already completed production on his next film, the SEAL drama Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, and Eric Bana, and while he's still preparing that project for it's November 15th release date it looks as though he's already found his next potential gig.

Deadline has learned that the director is looking to teaming up with Focus Features to tell the tragic story of notable hockey enforcer Derek Boogaard, who played in the National Hockey League from 2005 to 2011. The athlete's career was cut short when he died at the age of 28 from a lethal mixture of painkillers and alcohol, taken to try and sooth brain damage caused by the heavy contact sport. Berg is only attached as a producer at this point and is only hoping to direct, but Ryan Condal, screenwriter of Brett Ratner's upcoming Hercules, has been tapped to pen the script, adapting a series of articles from New York Times writer John Branch titled "Punched Out: The Life And Death Of A Hockey Enforcer."

You can actually watch the three part video series about Boogaard on the New York Times website here, here, and here.

In recent years we've seen a number of films named after holidays find their way to theaters. Frank Marshall covered both Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve, Rob Zombie resurrected Halloween, Eli Roth created a fake trailer for Thanksgiving, and Darren Lynn Bousman made a remake of Mother's Day. Even Jason Reitman is in on the action as he recently began production on his new film Labor Day. Now Peter Berg is joining the illustrious club as well with his take on a holiday we just celebrated this past weekend: Father's Day.

The film is based on the book by Buzz Bissinger, who is best known for writing the novel Friday Night Lights (Berg directed the feature adaptation of that book as well and is actually Bissinger's cousin). Berg currently has a first-look deal with Universal, who backed his last film, Battleship, and the studio is currently discussing taking the project on. According to Variety, The story is actually about Bissinger himself and his twin sons, one of whom suffers from learning disabilities. In the book the father and the handicapped son go on a road trip together and they begin to better understand each other.

Berg is also currently developing an adaptation of the book Lone Survivor, which currently has Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Ben Foster attached to play three of four Navy SEALs who get captured by the Taliban. The trade doesn't say which project Berg plans to tackle first, but considering Universal is already attached to Lone Survivor one can assume that movie will move a bit more quickly.

Battleship doesn’t have an original bone in its big-budget body. And for once, that’s a good thing.

Originality isn’t necessarily something Hollywood studios trade in during the summer season. The box office charts currently are teeming with comic book adaptations, sequels, remakes and reboots. But something about Battleship still feels overly familiar, as if we’ve seen a handful of these scenes before, perhaps in other like-minded blockbusters. The whole movie feels like Roland Emmerich’s sperm and Michael Bay’s sperm fertilized an egg Tony Scott cryogenically froze back in 1986, producing a “baby” with qualities of all of its “birth” fathers.

So before you see the Ship (and read Katey Rich’s review before embarking on said mission), revisit these classic action-movie sequences … and then determine whether Berg begged, borrowed or stole from his esteemed predecessors in adrenalized action.

The following points refer to specific scenes in Battleship. As a result, this column could be considered spoilery, but really, it’s a movie based on a board game, so how surprised do you need to be?

1) The Con Air introduction to our hero.

You all remember clean-cut soldier boy Nic Cage standing up for his beautiful wife (Monica Potter) by picking a bar fight in the opening scenes of Simon West’s Con Air. The act landed Cage’s character, Cameron Poe, behind bars … triggering West’s story. Battleship has a similar opening, where Taylor Kitsch breaks into a convenience store after hours so he can heat a chicken burrito for beautiful Brooklyn Decker. The act lands him in the Navy … triggering Berg’s story. Too bad that means Kitsch couldn’t rock Cage’s wispy Con Air hair.

2) The Top Gun volleyball scene.

A gratuitous excuse for sweaty beefcake dropped in the middle of a fighter-pilot thriller. The beach volleyball scene was Tony Scott saying, “Ladies, I know your boyfriend dragged you to this. Here. Shirtless Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. You’re welcome.” In Battleship, the unnecessary sporting event is a soccer match on the Hawaiian base. It means nothing to the overall film, but the teenage girls sitting behind me in our screening giggled at sweaty Kitsch like my wife still does when she hears Kenny Loggins’ “Playing with the Boys.”

3) The Independence Day alien punch.

It might be the moment where Will Smith went from recognizable actor to mega-super-duper movie star. In Roland Emmerich’s ID4 -- which essentially is the grandfather to Berg’s Battleship -- Smith eludes an alien spacecraft, forces this fast ship to crash, then tears the hatch on the craft open, punches the alien, and barks, “Welcome to Earth.” A similar battle ensues in the patriotic Battleship, only it’s a wounded Naval veteran boxing an alien. And when he connects a fight-stopping roundhouse, Berg slows his camera speed so the audience can thrill at the sight of four alien teeth getting knocked out. Welcome to Earth, indeed.

4) The Transformers skyscraper collapse.

Granted, Berg likely was working on the Battleship special effects long before Bay released last summer’s Dark of the Moon. But shots of a broken spaceship raining down on Japan and decimating skyscrapers called to mind the similar destruction re-enacted at the end of Bay’s Transformers sequel. Admittedly, there are only so many different ways you can show technologically advanced space creatures tearing down one of our planet’s tall buildings. But as one tower sliced in half and fell in on itself, I couldn’t help but think of Transformers 3 … and that’s not a good thing.

5) The Armageddon walk.

Speaking of Bay, one of his most recognizable shots makes its way into Berg’s Battleship. It's known as the Armageddon walk, and it occurs every time a full cast walks side-by-side toward destiny, preferably in slow-motion and, if John Woo is directing, with doves flying behind them. (Others call it the Reservoir Dogs walk. To-May-to, to-Mah-to, if you ask me.) Berg employs the signature strut with a band of senior citizens slo-mo walking across the once-defunct Missouri to solicit applause from a mainstream crowd. These veterans aren’t trying to split an asteroid in half, but their actions do ultimately save our planet, and for that, we’re forever grateful.

The title of the Peter Berg-directed Lone Survivor may make it sound like it will be a one-man show, but let's hope that's not the case because the trio of talent that could board the film would be totally wasted if the project only focused on one of them.

According to Deadline, Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch and Ben Foster are currently in talks to sign on for the new Berg movie, which was first announced last May. The movie is based on the book by Marcus Luttrell about a group of four Navy SEALs who were captured by the Taliban while on a mission to kill a terrorist leader in 2005. As you can probably guess by now, Wahlberg, Kitsch and Foster, should they sign on, will play three of the four members of the team with Wahlberg taking the role of Luttrell.

Berg wrote the script for the film after being embedded with a SEAL team in Iraq, though this isn't the filmmakers first time in the desert as he previously directed The Kingdom with Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. While this would be the first time that both Foster and Wahlberg have worked with Berg as a director, Kitsch has worked with him closely, both on the television series Friday Night Lights - which Berg co-created - and Battleship, which is due out this summer.

Navy SEALs seem to be the "in" thing these days, with Act of Valor opening at number one last weekend and movies like Kathryn Bigelow's untitled Kill Bin Laden project and John Stockwell's Code Name: Geronimo currently in development. Let's just pray that Hollywood doesn't let the bubble burst like they let happen with vampires.

When you love a TV show, you know that eventually it’s got to come to an end. So, let’s say that day comes and the creators wrap it up rather neatly. Yes, it’s nice to end on a high note, but it’s impossible not to want more-- and that's usually in the form of a movie that the creators themselves hope will happen. That's the situation surrounding plenty of shows, not least among them Friday Night Lights

While chatting Chronicle with the actor who plays Vince Howard, Michael B. Jordon, he discussed whether or not the new Friday Night Lights movie should happen at all. “I don’t know. It’s rough. I think I’m playing devil’s advocate; it can go both sides of the fence.” Jordan continued, “There’s so many different takes that you can put on it, but definitely Jason Katims, if he’s writing the script, he’ll probably do a tasteful job with incorporating the characters that everybody loves and new characters maybe.”

While Jordan was certainly willing to discuss the potential of the Friday Night Lights film, he also noted, “I just don’t know how real that movie is, so I can’t really talk about it so much.” We got a similarly weary reaction from Connie Britton back in December. She noted that Peter Berg was a busy guy, so the movie wouldn’t even be able to shoot until the end of next year. No, not a total thumbs down, but then she threw in, “if it happens at all.”

It’s pretty clear that Friday Night Lights the movie won’t be happening anytime soon, but the idea still seems to have some force. Britton also mentioned, “But everybody really wants to make it happen,” and apparently, everybody includes Jordan. He exclaimed, “If they called me up and go, ‘Hey man, I need you to play Vince,’ I’ll go, ‘Okay, cool. Perfect! When do we shoot?’”

Even if that shooting day does come, the big question is, who’ll even be part of it? Without spoiling the show for the folks who’ve yet to finish, it’s tough to imagine a plot that could possible bring the series’ main players back together again beyond the Taylors. In any case, it looks as though we’ll have quite a while to mull this one over.

I must admit that I was disappointed by Hancock, directed by Peter Berg and starring Will Smith, but I was really a victim of my own expectations. While I wanted it to be a movie where Smith played a totally egregious asshole that challenged the audience to be on his side, the film ended up being too tame (a PG-13 rating will do that) and nothing special overall. Still, the movie was a huge hit back in the summer of 2008, bringing in over $225 million domestically and over $600 million internationally on a $150 million budget. Since then there have been plenty of questions about whether or not the movie will get a sequel, and according to recent comments from Berg it's still a possibility.

Comic Book Movie recently had the chance to speak with the filmmaker, who said that discussions about the film are on-going with the star and producers, but the biggest problem that they have been facing is scheduling - not just for production, but for an actual meeting. "We've been talking about the sequel between us, Will Smith, [producers] Michael Mann and Akiva goldman and myself," Berg said. "We're all interested, but we literally just have trouble getting into the same room at the same time." While it may be difficult now, they did manage to get together last year to talk about a potential sequel and formulate an idea for the plot. "I think it will happen, it's just a question of timing," the director said.

Where you go with this character's story is an important question. By the end of the first movie Hancock was reformed (for the most part), meaning that what made the element first film unique is now gone. If Hancock is just the nice guy hero who stops crime, what makes it different then all of the other superhero movies coming out today? Hopefully they think of something that is as interesting as that idea before moving forward with a sequel.

For those of you hoping for a(nother) Friday Night Lights movie, there’s some not so great news on the status of the potential project. Connie Britton offered a vague update on it, which sounds as though the film wouldn’t get going until late next year, if at all.

TVLine caught up with Britton to talk about tonight’s (bizarre, dark, creepy, bloody) episode of FX’s American Horror Story, in which the former Friday Night Lights actor stars. During the conversation, they asked her for an update on the Friday Night Lights movie. Back in October Britton said Peter Berg, the director of the FNL film, and developer of the NBC series, was “totally fired up” to do the movie and that Jason Katims was talking about writing the script, however from what she says now, Berg is tied up with other projects:

What she says about Berg isn't all that surprising. It’s the “if it happens at all” that sounds a bit less optimistic than fans of the football themed drama series (which was based on a movie, which was based on a book) will want to hear.

Berg has two projects in the works, the first of which is directing Battleship, which is due out next year. IMDB also has him listed as set to direct a film called Lone Survivor, which he also wrote.

So while it sounds like Britton would still be up for doing the movie, the project may not happen anytime soon. This is, of course, assuming there’s no one else available to take over the project in Berg’s place. But given Berg’s involvement in the original film and the series, it’s hard to see that as a positive scenario. Waiting might actually be the better option here, even if it takes years.

Clear eyes, full hearts...

With the fate of the Transformers franchise still in the works as Michael Bay allegedly works out a deal to direct the fourth one, next summer we'll be getting what looks like the next best thing. I hadn't been thinking of Peter Berg's upcoming Battleship-- yes, based on the board game-- as the heir apparent to Transformers but it's hard to think of anything else watching this new trailer, which reveals a lot of the alien warfare and CGI shots and even sound effects that bring Optimus Prime firmly to mind. You can watch the trailer below.

Everything from that opening text-- "From Hasbro, the company that brought you Transformers"-- to the metallic booming effects to the little ball alien that throws out a tentacle and rips through a plane feels so, so much like a Transformers movie. Then there's Brooklyn Decker as your random hottie with very few lines, Taylor Kitsch as the rugged but relatable leading man, plenty of enormous explosions-- all you need is some shots at "magic' hour" and some lame jokes to have the perfect Bay formula.

To be fair to everyone involved, you'd be an idiot not to market this movie on the back of Transformers, one of the biggest movie franchises of all time. Universal especially, attempting to launch a franchise beyond the Fast and Furious movies, is smart to take whatever leg up they can get. Knowing that Peter Berg has done good work in the past I'm not willing to write this off just yet as a simple Transformers knockoff, but I'm frustrated that there doesn't seem to be a single original reason to look forward to it. Couldn't they have shown us the parts of the film that don't feel familiar, or given us a sense of why this one has real characters, or better dialogue, or something? Every summer needs some good big budget spectacle, but do they all have to be identical to each other?

Let us know what you think of the trailer in the comments below. Battleship comes to theaters May 18 next year.

TNT may already have a resident cowboy in Justified's Raylan Givens, played by the Emmy nominated Timothy Olyphant, but with a new Western on the horizon the network has got to start filling some saddles. The potential new Western from the network is called Gateway, a story about three brothers who try to keep law and order in the titular town after their Pa, the Sheriff, is gunned down. And now we know that Cam Gigandet will be playing one of those law enforcing brothers.

Deadline reports that the actor will play Jake, one of the three sons of a murdered lawman in 1880s Colorado, in the Bruce C. McKenna and Danny Cannon penned pilot. Known for his role as the evil vampire James in the original Twilight film, Gigandet showed off some impressive skills with a gun as Hicks in this summer's vampire-action-adventure flick Priest. Despite having been in several features, it seems that television might be a better fit for the young actor.

For some reason, television suddenly became very interested in the wild west with TNT's Gateway, Ron Moore's Hangtown at ABC and the still very vague Peter Berg-Liz Heldens 'female centric' Western at NBC. Why any network would want to get into the Western business now remains kind of a mystery. HBO's Deadwood (starring the aforementioned Timothy Olyphantastic) couldn't survive beyond three seasons and that's just about as good a TV Western as you're ever going to get, especially with the added realism and benefit of relaxed content restrictions that HBO provides. However, with three different series exploring the genre, at least one will be a hog-killin' time (it's a Old West phrase, for fun... sorry).

Western shows are the new hotness these days. AMC’s got Hell on Wheels coming up. Yesterday, Jessica told us about A&E’s greenlight for Longmire, based on Craig Johnson’s novels and with a cast including Lou Diamond Philips and Battlestar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff. A few days before that, TNT picked up a western series called Gateway. Now another one is strapping on its spurs: The Hollywood Reporter says that NBC has ordered a western script from Friday Night Lights producers Peter Berg and Liz Heldens.

Unfortunately, that’s about where the details end. The THR story says that the series will be “a western story told from a female point of view.” Berg and Heldens will both exec produce, with Heldens writing the script. That’s not much to go on, but if they can bring the same level of writing quality to this show as they did to Friday Night Lights, this will definitely be one to watch.

Of course, the trick there is getting people to watch. Friday Night Lights was consistently praised by critics and die-hard fans alike, but it never became the kind of hit it deserved to be, only surviving as long as it did thanks to a partnership between NBC and DirecTV that allowed the episodes to air first on DTV’s in-house The 101 network. Hopefully Berg and Heldens will get more eyeballs for their new show.

What do you think of the glut of new western shows? Are you itching for some horse opera? Sound off over on TV Blend’s Facebook page.

A couple weeks ago, we got our very first look at Peter Berg’s Battleship, a trailer which boasted aliens, a "game board" shot, and weaponry that, you guessed it, looked like pegs from the classic HASBRO board game. After all this, if you didn’t facepalm yourself into a concussion you’re a far more tolerant man than I.

Unfortunately, the trailer proved that this movie is definitely happening and if you still weren’t convinced you weren’t in some sort of fever dream then this new image released from the film will clear your mind. Absent from the trailer was any footage of pop mega-star Rihanna, but we get the chance to see her here wielding (read: standing near) a boat-mounted minigun looking confused. Scope it our below courtesy of Rhianna Daily.

Sure, it’s nice to see Rihanna's spreading her wings and out celebrity-ing professional douchebag Chris Brown, but the fact that she’s in this movie doesn’t elevate it any higher than Liam Neeson has. Once this movie spends its (probably short) life at the box office, expect to see it exactly where you’ll find old versions of the game--on the bottom shelf behind other stuff that is better than it.

This will be Rihanna's first outing as an actress so expect to see her creep her way in to films even if this movie does belly flop into the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Where do you stand on Battleship? Am I justly bitter, or am I being a film curmudgeon? Sound off in the comments below.

Friday Night Lights started as a 2004 movie that critics liked but not too many people saw, then was turned into a TV series that critics adored but even fewer people saw. Now could the circle complete itself with yet another movie? TVLine reports that Peter Berg, who directed the Friday Night Lights movie and was an executive producer on the series, has talked up his hopes to make another movie, this one following main characters Coach Taylor (Kyle Chandler) and Tami Taylor (Connie Britton). The news started with a tweet from Bill Simmons, who's been working on an oral history of the show, and TVLine confirmed that Berg is in fact working on the idea.

With the final episode of Friday Night Lights airing tonight on NBC, now is the perfect time for dreams of a movie version to flare up. Of course, this will be far from the first TV show to harbor such dreams-- just ask fans of Arrested Development, 24, Party Down or Veronica Mars who are still holding on to hope that they'll see their favorite characters onscreen again. Friday Night Lights seems no more or less likely than any of those shows to actually become a movie, given that it's got a devoted fanbase and, more importantly, a lot of critical support, but isn't really the kind of huge brand name that immediately inspires a studio to take notice. They've got a leg up in Berg, though, the director behind the upcoming Battleship movie who knows his way around major studio politics. We already know he's hoping to make a drama about Navy SEALs in Afghanistan-- is this another pet project he's willing to take under his wing?

Chandler and Britton are both nominated for Emmys this year for their performances on the show, which also snagged its first nomination for Best Drama Series, and it's clear they'd love to bring back the characters as much as the fans would. But given the long history of TV show-to-movie adaptations that never actually happen, is there any reason to assume this will be the one that works? I agree, it's a cruel and ridiculous thing that we live in a world with the new The A-Team movie and not an Arrested Development movie, but if it were a just world, Friday Night Lights wouldn't have its first Emmy nomination this year, now would it?

When Peter Berg agreed in September 2009 to adapt the board game Battleship for Universal, he struck a deal with the studio: if he made their giant blockbuster based on a board game, they'd let him make the movie he really wanted to make, about a Navy SEAL team ambushed by the Taliban in Afghanistan. It's the kind of "one for you, one for me" deal that landed Christopher Nolan his huge Inception budget or allowed Zack Snyder to run wild on Sucker Punch, a studio's way of keeping a director happy by greenlighting projects that might not be that successful. But now that a team of Navy SEALs have in fact killed Osama bin Laden, Berg's project is looking a whole lot more commercial, and the studio is moving forward with the project that Berg thought might not actually happen.

In a relatively extensive interview with Deadline, Berg acknowledged that "Bin Laden's death has cleared the way for this," the movie called Lone Survivor and based on the book by Marcus Luttrell. Luttrell was one of four SEAL team members captured by the Taliban on a mission to kill a terrorist leader; as Berg explained to Deadline, "The mission was similar to the assassination mission that got bin Laden, but things got complicated when they ran into three kids and an old man," he said. "Under the rules of engagement, they could have killed them, but they decided to let them go and take their chances, even though they knew these people would likely talk."

Berg has already talked to his Battleship star Taylor Kitsch about playing one of the SEAL team members, and is meeting with other actors as we speak. He compared the project to Black Hawk Down and also described it as "an unapologetically patriotic film that honors and pays homage to an incredible group of badass guys who do this." The movie will start shooting in January, just a few months before Battleship finally proves itself in theaters on May 18, but a few months after Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal will get statred on their own Navy SEAL project, which is actually called (or at least was called at one point) Kill Bin Laden. The two films will likely be very different, but who knows if Bigelow and Boal appreciate the big studio competition as they set up their own meticulously researched film.

For moviegoers, though, especially those of us who have been fascinated by the fearless Navy SEALs in the last few weeks, it's really just an embarrassment of riches. Berg has plenty of talent to spare and sounds incredibly passionate about the project, while Bigelow and Boal already proved their prowess with war movies in The Hurt Locker. After years of movies about the Middle East and the twin wars there failed to catch on at the box office, it may finally be their time to succeed.

Tim Griffin is everywhere. You’ve likely seen him in films like Leatherheads and Cloverfield as well as on TV shows including Grey’s Anatomy and 24. Not only is Griffin adding to his resume with films like Super 8, The Collection, A Better Life and more, but with a new TV show as well, an American remake of the British series, Prime Suspect.

The original police procedural drama kicked off in the early 90s with Helen Mirren starring as Jane Tennison, an all-business detective working at the Metropolitan Police Service, also known as Scotland Yard. This time around, Mario Bello assumes the lead role renamed Jane Timoney. Griffin stars as Detective Augie Blando who is “a little bit of the comic relief.” Augie is a member of a collection of detectives called “The Beef Trust.” Griffin explained, “We’re just sort of like the guys that all the cases go to, we do things our way … and Maria comes in and she’s like one of these – she’s this brilliant detective, but she comes out of nowhere and suddenly she’s in our department and it’s a real battle of the sexes at first.”

At the moment, the group is just working on the pilot, but Griffin is confident in Prime Suspect’s chances. “You never know what’s going to happen. This definitely has the heavy hitters behind it, so you hope for the best.” He assures us, “The way you see [the pilot] end, you’d want to see more of it.” Well, if we take Griffin’s word for it, NBC, who owns the rights to the piece, could be queuing up the project for a future lineup. In terms of all the resources and talent behind this one, I’d bet on it.

Check out everything Griffin had to say about working on Prime Suspect thus far in the video interview below.

Before she was Oscar-nominated for The Queen or dazzling everyone with her machine gun skills in Red, Helen Mirren was garnering heaps of awards and attention over in the U.K. for her role on Prime Suspect, a long-running crime drama in which she played the hard-living Detective Inspector Jane Tennison. The series started in the early 90s and picked back up for two final installments in 2006, airing as part of Masterpiece Theater in the United States but never getting quite the same following-- American viewers know it better through all the female-led procedurals that have been inspired by it, including The Closer and Saving Grace.

But now, after years in development, the inevitable American remake of Prime Suspect has finally found an actress brave enough to step into Mirren's shoes. According to THR Maria Bellos is closing a deal to star in the show, which will air on NBC with Peter Berg acting as executive producer and Alexandra Cunningham, a Desperate Housewives veteran, ready to serve as showrunner if Prime Suspect gets picked up.

Bello, who at 44 is almost exactly the same age Mirren was when Prime Suspect first started in 1991, has been almost exclusively a film actress, showing up recently in The Company Men, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and A History of Violence. She did do a two-episode stint on Law & Order: SVU recently though, so clearly she's not opposed to a good procedural. Bello is taking the route that many, many actresses have taken as they get further along in the careers, opting for a steady gig on TV rather than endless film auditions-- it's worked out well for Kyra Sedgwick, Glenn Close and Holly Hunter, just to name a few. But the Prime Suspect remake is more high-profile than any of the shows those women have led on basic cable; for Bello, the pressure is most certainly on. There's no doubt she has the talent to make it work, but both she and Berg have a pretty huge legacy to live up to should Prime Suspect make it, as planned, to the NBC fall schedule.

Liam Neeson used to make movies like Schindler's List, Nell and Michael Collins. He's an Oscar nominated actor who made his name in heavy dramas. Apparently he doesn't really care about that anymore. Deadline reports that Neeson has joined the cast of Peter Berg's Battleship. In the film, the actor will play Admiral Shane, the father of Brooklyn Decker's character. The film co-stars Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgaard, and Rihanna.

Seventeen years ago, Neeson played the title role in a Steven Spielberg film widely considered to be one of the greatest of all time - a historical drama in which his character does everything in his power to help the Jewish people under persecution from the Nazis. Now he's playing a background character in a movie based on a board game that will likely see a pop star have higher billing then him. The man seriously needs to fire his agent.

Friday Night Lights star Taylor Kitsch and True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard are leading the cast of Peter Berg's Battleship movie, but apparently that's enough "real" actors for one film. Just a few weeks after hiring RIhanna to make her acting debut, Berg has cast Victoria's Secret model Brooklyn Decker, according to Latino Review.

Decker is not to be confused with fellow Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who is starring in Transformers 3, though how we're supposed to tell the difference between these nubile blondes is beyond me. Also a Sports Illustrated cover model, Decker, has long been famous for her looks and her marriage to Andy Roddick, but lately has been making the transition into acting, with guest spots on Chuck and Royal Pains and a part in the upcoming romantic comedy Just Go With It.

I'm not sure if they didn't want to hire an experienced actress out of fear of making Rihanna look bad or if the female roles in this movie are really that inconsequential, but the fact that Battleship will star a pop star and a model probably tells us a lot about what to expect here. I guess if the explosions and alien special effects are good enough, we may at least not notice the leading ladies have no idea what they're doing-- hey, it worked for Megan Fox in Transformers.

With Ouija and Candyland and Monopoly movies on their way whether you like it or not, many of us have been looking to Peter Berg's Battleship as the one potential board game movie that could make us not wish for the sweet relief of death. After all, Berg's a director with good credentials, and his idea to add an alien element to the traditional naval battle story at least made it clear we wouldn't see people shouting "F-5!" into periscopes for two hours.

But any big-budget movie is a gamble these days, especially at Universal, a studio that lost a chunk of money on expensive projects last summer and, as sorry as I am to say it, will probably not make back the reported $80 million it cost them to make Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (even though it's the best wide-release movie this weekend and you should see it at all costs). As reported by THR today, as the Battleship budget ballooned toward $200 million earlier this summer, the studio considered pulling the plug on it entirely. Universal chief Adam Fogelson denies this, of course, and convincingly counters every one of the article's claims about why the project would be a financial disaster for the studio. Here are some highlights:

The piece is a great read overall, especially if you're fascinated, as I am, by all the rationalizations and negotiations that go into launching a movie as big as this one. It's interesting that Universal has been on the defensive about Battleship practically since day one, inviting a cadre of bloggers to meet with Berg on an actual battleship back in December, and now sending Fogelson to THR to keep the pitch going.

As the first of the "board game movies" to actually get going Battleship obvious faces a fair amount of backlash, but no more than Michael Bay did when he started with the Transformers movies. The THR piece reveals some real trouble behind the scenes if they were considering pulling the plug entirely, but still, you've got to wonder why Universal is pushing back so hard against buzz that isn't so much "bad" as "we'll wait and see." With production starting in Hawaii in just over two weeks, that wait is a least getting shorter.

Earlier this morning Latino Review posted a story that Mark Wahlberg was in talks to produce and star in a feature-length adaptation of the Ricardo de Montreuil short film The Raven which blew up online back in April. Just my luck, I caught the story just as I was leaving for a press junket for The Other Guys, where I would have the chance to talk to Wahlberg not only about The Raven, but his other future projects as well.

It turns out that Latino Review's info was accurate, however, Wahlberg is not in talks to adapt the short as a feature but rather has been developing it for about a month now. The actor told me that the plan is for him to both serve as producer and star in the film as Chris Black, a man living in a futuristic Los Angeles who wakes up one morning to find that the police have tracked him down with plans to arrest him. What we don't know is that Black is not just an ordinary criminal on the run for the law. "It will be a very, very different kind of superhero movie," said Wahlberg. "Certainly not me running around with a cape on or some suit. The idea that they came up with for the feature is spectacular." Set to be directed by de Montreuil, the actor expects the script to be completed in six to eight weeks and will then start shooting immediately.

Wahlberg also gave us an update on the long in-development project Cocaine Cowboys, based on the 2006 Billy Corben documentary. Wahlberg has been rumored for the project since 2008, playing the role of Jon Roberts, the famed drug trafficker who worked out of Miami for the Colombian Medellin cartel. Peter Berg is currently attached to direct and the script, written by Generation Kill's Evan Wright, is currently undergoing rewrites. While he is excited for the project, Wahlberg says that they have "a couple of other things that we are developing and hope to shoot at least one or two more things before that. But nothing's locked in yet."

Wahlberg can next be seen starring alongside Will Ferrell in The Other Guys, due out August 6, and as famed boxer "Irish" Mickey Ward in David O. Russell's The Fighter on December 10. In the meantime, check out de Montreuil's short film The Raven below.