I wouldn’t blame you if you were down onMark Wahlbergright now. Three of his last five films are downright bad. But here’s the thing… three of his last seven films were in my Top 15 of their respective years. He’s very hit-and-miss in my book, and yet, as a well-known Boston homer, I must admit that Mark Wahlberg is kind of The Man. First of all, Mark Wahlberg is not only an Oscar-nominated actor, but he’s also an Oscar-nominated producer as well. That’s someLeonardo DiCaprio-Brad Pittshit right there. And leaving those films –The DepartedandThe Fighter– aside, you’re left with the stone-cold classicBoogie Nights; the rock-solid moviesThree KingsandTed;Fear, which is a personal favorite of mine; and his excellent True Story Trilogy, which includesLone Survivor,Deepwater HorizonandPatriots Day.
That’s a wicked good resume if you ask me, so to be completely honest, as hot asChris Evansis right now coming off ofAvengers: Endgame, I think Wahlberg remains a step up the ladder. Blasphemy to all you Marvel fans, I know. The reason this comparison is even being made in the first place today is that Wahlberg is currently in negotiations to replace fellow Massachusetts man Evans inAntoine Fuqua’s action-thrillerInfinite, which is in the works over at Paramount.
Apparently, scheduling issues with his upcoming Apple TV seriesDefending Jacobare to blame for Evans' exit. That show is currently in production, as I understand it, and it must be a lengthy shoot, asInfiniteis expected to start production in September.Defending Jacobis an important project for Evans now that he has turned over Captain America’s shield toAnthony Mackieand bowed out gracefully from the MCU. It could be the kind of series that takes his career as a serious actor to the next level, or… it could be a neutral move, which seems to have been the case withChris Pine’s TNT seriesI Am the Night. I bet it’ll turn out a bit better than that though, which is why I suspect that Evans ultimately dodged a bullet withInfinite. Allow me to explain.
While I love Mark Wahlberg, I said earlier that his projects are very hit-and-miss. I’d love to be proved wrong, butInfinitesounds like a miss. Based onD. Eric Maikranz’s 2009 novelThe Reincarnationist Papers,the story follows a group of near-immortal men and women who are reincarnated over the centuries and known as “the Infinite.” To defeat an evil mastermind, the group must rely on a schizophrenic man (Wahlberg) whose vivid dreams are actually memories from past lives.
I don’t know… I like Fuqua and screenwriterIan Shorr, but I’d be lying if I said that premise got me excited. In fact, it sounds a little bit like Marvel’sThe Eternals, which is also about near-immortal beings, but instead of having a cosmic backdrop,Infinitesounds like it will be a littleInception-y. I suppose it’s admirable of Paramount and producerLorenzo di Bonaventurato make a big-budget movie based on a relatively unknown IP, but it’s also fair to suggest that this could wind up being an expensive flop. I suppose every movie has 50-50 odds of success, but Wahlberg-Fuqua should be a slam dunk pairing in my eyes, and yet this premise gives me doubts.
That said, Wahlberg is best when he’s allowed to indulge his crazy side – IHeart Huckabees,Boogie Nights,Fear– so his casting as a schizophrenic hero could pay dividends, and again, as I said before, I like him in this role more than Evans. I’ll just be curious to see what the budget is onInfinite, as Paramount isn’t shy about pulling the plug (see theWorld War Zsequel).
Wahlberg is obviously closely aligned with Paramount, having starred in twoTransformerssequels as well as theDaddy’s Homefranchise.Instant FamilyandThe Gamblerwere also Paramount movies, and Wahlberg’s nephew,Jeffrey Wahlberg, co-stars in the studio’s upcomingDora the Explorermovie. The elder Wahlberg recently wrappedPeter Berg’s Netflix movieWonderlandand the indie dramaGood Joe Bell. He’s is represented by WME and Leverage Management.
Mark VahradianandJohn Zaozirnyare also producingInfinite, which Paramount is slated to release on Jul 03, 2025.
