Ragesh Dipu
Mark Wahlberg is set to star in the upcoming dog adventure movie ‘Arthur the King’ from Paramount Players. Based on the 2017 book ‘Arthur: The Dog who Crossed the Jungle to Find a Home’ by Mikael Lindnord, the captain of a Swedish adventure racing team, the film tells the real-life story of a stray dog’s love for his new friends. Wahlberg will portray Lindner, the narrator, and executive produces the project. Michael Brandt, who is known for ‘3:10 to Yuma’ and ‘Wanted,’ is adapting the script. No director is attached to the film yet. Mark Canton, Tucker Tooley, Courtney Solomon, and Tessa Tooley are the producers. Dorothy Canton, Brandt and Lindnord executive produce alongside Wahlberg.
The plot follows Lindnord who crosses paths with Arthur, a wounded stray dog. Lindnord and his team found Arthur during a dangerous and tasking adventure across the jungles and valleys of South America. What began with a simple gesture of sharing their meatball grew into a deep bond between Lindnord and the mongrel with etiquette. Despite his down at heel appearance, the dog followed them the next morning. He stood with the team while crossing rivers, battling with unknown sicknesses and facing the challenges posed by one of the most difficult terrains in the world. When the dog finished the 400-mile race through the Ecuadoran wilderness along with the team, Lindnord decided to adopt him and bring him back to his home in Sweden.
‘Arthur the King’ reunites Welhberg with Paramount after their successful collaborations such as ‘Transformers‘ film franchise and ‘Daddy’s Home‘ comedies. While the first ‘Daddy Home’ movie earned Paramount a $242M worldwide gross, its sequel got a $180M overall haul. The actor also played the lead role in the 2018 comedy ‘Instant Family’ from Paramount opposite Rose Byrne. The movie went on to become a surprise hit earning $120M from the box office. Wahlberg’s upcoming project is the mystery thriller ‘Wonderland’ from Netflix. Directed by Peter Berg and written by Sean O’Keefe, the film is based on the novel of the same name by Ace Atkins. His other projects in development include the indie flick ‘Good Joe Bell,’ directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green with Reid Miller, Connie Britton, Maxwell Jenkins, and Gary Sinise playing major roles.
Wahlberg is also in discussions to replace Chris Evans in Paramount’s upcoming action flick ‘Infinite.’ Based on the 2009 novel ‘The Reincarnationist Papers’ by D. Eric Maikranz, the plot revolves around Evan Michaels, who finds himself entangled in a cobweb of memories from two past lives. He digs deep into the mystery and discovers an ancient secret society of people like him. The society constituted the Cognomina, whose members functioned as the agents on radical change throughout the timeline of history! Evans opted out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. Paramount has set August 7, 2020, premiere date for ‘Infinite,’ which is directed by Antoine Fuqua. (Cover Image Courtesy: Paramount, ‘Instant Family’)
