Mark Wahlberg Could Star in Rebuilt 'The Six Million Dollar Man'

To paraphrase TV's The Six Million Dollar Man, "Hollywood can rebuild old franchises. They have the technology."  A big screen take on The Six Million Dollar Man has long been in the works and with some considerable names attached. The last we heard about it was when Bryan Singer was attached to direct with Leonardo DiCaprio eying the lead as cybernetic hero, Steve Austin. Before that it was Kevin Smith who took a stab at the script, eventually turning it into a comic book, while Jim Carrey and Todd Phillips briefly flirted with the film as Universal and Weinstein argued over film rights. But those issues have been settled and now Mark Wahlberg is said to be up for the title role.

The story comes courtesy of The Tracking Board, meaning there are no confirmations on anything just yet, but it's worth noting that Wahlberg has talked about the film before. He even mentioned the remake's new title, The Six Billion Dollar Man, which has been the plan since Singer was on board.  Wahlberg's would be reuniting with Lone Survivor's Peter Berg, who is on board to produce and possibly direct if everything comes together.

The Six Million Dollar Man was based on Martin Caidin's novel, Cyborg, and was preceded by three television movies before the Lee Majors-led series debuted in 1974, lasting through 1978 and spawning a popular spinoff, The Bionic Woman. The show centered on Steve Austin (not the wrestler, obviously), a severely injured astronaut whose body is rebuilt with bionic parts by the government so he can become a secret agent.

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Bryan Singer to adapt The Six Million Dollar Man? Leonardo DiCaprio to star?

I'm an unabashed fan of pretty much all of Bryan Singer's films. Not just the X-men movies, but also the underrated stuff like Apt Pupil. However I feel like he's been becoming less relevant over the last few years, after being such a force with his debut flick, The Usual Suspects. Next year brings us his long awaited Jack the Giant Killer, and apparently his Battlestar Galactica remake is finally gaining steam. And now Latino Review reports he may be looking to adapt hit TV series, The Six Million Dollar Man.

The show featured Lee Majors as test pilot Steve Austin, who suffers a terrible accident that wrecks his body, but finds himself the guinea pig in an experiment that rebuilds him as a cyborg government agent. "We have the technology"!!! Yeah, you know the show. Universal and The Weinsteins are pairing up on this one, and they want a big name to take the lead, like Leonardo DiCaprio. Wow. Big news there. A studio wants DiCaprio to star in their movie. The film will be retitled The Six BILLION Dollar Man, because six million dollar cyborgs are so yesterday.

Singer may employ the writers of Jack the Giant Killer to pen the script, but this one looks to be pretty early in development. A lot of what follows will depend on DiCaprio, who has a ton of potential projects upcoming but nothing really solid. At this point, until something is confirmed take this story with a grain of salt.

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