- Mark Wahlberg expresses hope for his long-awaited remake of The Six Million Dollar Man, now titled The Six Billion Dollar Man.
- He credits his upcoming movie, The Family Plan, with Skydance Media for renewing studio interest in the project.
- Skydance Media CEO David Ellison is set to direct the reboot, and Wahlberg praises his action movie credentials.
Mark Wahlberg recently revealed hope for his long-awaited reboot of The Six Million Dollar Man, now titled The Six Billion Dollar Man. The project has been in development since at least 2014, but Wahlberg hasn’t given up and thanks his upcoming action-comedy film, The Family Plan, for renewing studio interest in the project.
In an interview with Collider, Wahlberg said, “You know what, I think there is finally hope for that to happen. And I think it’s kind of actually a lot to do with this movie, because hopefully Skydance will have the rights, if not fully buttoned up now, very soon, and we’ll fast track that movie to get made. So, I’m still not out of the fight, I’m still grinding every day to get it made. You know, its tough to get certain things made it’s very difficult, it was an uphill battle, but I think certain ones are worth just seeing through to the end.”
Wahlberg believes Skydance now has the rights to the property and mentions that they could potentially fast-track the project. The original Six Million Dollar Man series aired from 1973 to 1978, following the story of ace pilot Steve Austin who, after a near-fatal plane crash, receives bionic implants from the government that grant him superhuman abilities. The Six Billion Dollar Man would likely follow a similar storyline, with Wahlberg taking on the role of the enhanced protagonist.
Over the years, the Six Billion Dollar Man reboot has gone through several directors, including filmmaker Peter Berg and Bumblebee director Travis Knight. The project is now set to be helmed by Skydance Media CEO David Ellison. Wahlberg spoke of Ellison’s involvement, saying, “I’m excited because nobody does action better than David and everybody, and Dana (Goldberg) and those guys at Skydance, so I couldn’t be more excited about the possibility.”
Although Ellison has limited experience as a director, he has a long list of action-movie credits as a producer, including Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, and the blockbuster hit Top Gun: Maverick. Ellison is also a producer on Wahlberg’s upcoming film, The Family Plan, which is set to be released on Apple TV+ on December 15, 2023.