Mark Wahlberg to Star in Boston Marathon Bombings Movie, 'Patriots Day'
Mark Wahlberg wants to make a movie about the Boston marathon bombings. Wahlberg, who will also produce the film, is looking to play Ed Davis in CBS Films' Patriots Day.
Proud Bostonian Mark Wahlberg wants to portray Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, the man who led the manhunt for the two Chechen suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. The movie is apparently being fast-tracked by CBS Films, and the script from Matt Charman is reportedly close to being completed. Mark Wahlberg and the other producers on the movie will be tasked with finding the right director for the project.
Another movie is currently being developed that will focus on the Boston marathon bombings too, and thats Fox's, Boston Strong. It's being written by RoboCop scribe Joshua Zetume from a first draft by Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson, and based on Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge’s book of the same name. Casey Affleck was originally attached to produce and star in Boston Strong, but left the project weeks later, around the time that Safe House director Daniel Espinosa signed on to direct the feature. The film is reportedly a “big priority project for the studio,” and Fox is hoping that Espinosa will be able to shoot footage from this month’s marathon.
Both Patriots Day and Boston Strong will reportedly focus on the same story elements — the bombing, the subsequent tragedy, the following manhunt. So, if you think two movies focussing on the same event being made around the same time is overkill, Lionsgate is also planning its own feature, with a more personal twist. Last July, the studio bought the rights to Stronger, a book penned by bombing survivor Jeff Bauman and co-writer Bret Witter, which chronicles Bauman’s recovery after losing both his legs in the bombing. That film is still in development.
