Max Payne Movie May Star Mark Wahlberg

Mark "Marky Mark" Wahlberg (The Departed, Planet of the Apes, The Basketball Diaries) is in talks to masquerade as the malicious mobster murderer Max Payne in a film based on the property, reports Variety. Inspired by the video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment, the Twentieth Century Fox-funded movie is expected to enter production next year. Heavily influenced by the slow-mo action of various films, the 2001 release of Max Payne (PC, PS2, Xbox) popularized the bullet time gameplay mechanic, which slowed time to allow more precise aiming and a better view of the surrounding chaos. John Moore (The Omen, Jack's Bicycle) is attached to direct the script written by Beau Thorn, whose previous work Shacknews was unable to locate. Julie Yorn (Bride Wars, Afro Samurai, The Devil's Rejects) and Scott Fayne (Alice, Venom) will produce. The project is said to be based on the first game in the series, which told the tale of a detective with nothing to lose after his wife and infant child were slaughtered by junkies. There is no word yet if Wahlberg will be expected to mirror the constipated expression that Payne wore throughout the game.