Mark Wahlberg is the Six Billion Dollar Man

[roach]

http://deadline.com/2014/11/mark-wahlberg-six-billion-dollar-man-movie-peter-berg-1201274727/

Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg, the duo behind the critically acclaimed and box office success Lone Survivor, are re-teaming for the feature film version of The Six Billion Dollar Man with various writers circling the project for The Weinstein Co.’s Dimension Films label. (Yes, billion with a ‘b’). Berg will direct and Wahlberg is attached to star in the film about former astronaut Steve Austin who, after a horrific crash of an experimental plane, is saved by doctors when he is fitted with bionic replacements — both legs, his right arm and left eye. With super-human power, he becomes a force to be reckoned with for the government as a secret agent for the Office of Scientific Intelligence.

 

[Pink Ranger]

Intrigued, but don't see why they had to change the title. Six million dollars is still alot of money to spend on reconstructing one human being, it's not like a humourous Dr. Evil situation.

Must have the "chuk-chuk-chuk" sound effects though, or no me see-ey.

 

[MadVillainy]

Wahlberg used to be pretty hit or miss with me.

But since The Other Guys he's be 8/9 with me. I like just about everything he's been in. So I'll be checking out for it.

I'm not surprised they changed the title. It makes sense

 

[Dugath]

Yeah, no way they would spend 6 billion to fix up a person.

 

[roach]

Intrigued, but don't see why they had to change the title. Six million dollars is still alot of money to spend on reconstructing one human being, it's not like a humourous Dr. Evil situation.

Must have the "chuk-chuk-chuk" sound effects though, or no me see-ey.

His enhancements would cost more than six million dollars...besides the government always over bids contracts

 

[DeadPresident]

6 million dollars probably gets you brain surgery and some chemo these days. 6 billion sounds a lot more accurate.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

Gentlemen, we can rebuild this franchise, we have the technology !
Count me in but they better get the bionic sound correct !
A cameo of the red suit would be cool too.

Trivia : Steven was worth 3 billion ( 3 milliards Francs at the time ) in France.

 

[Pink Ranger]

"Steve, we've got some bad news: your body is completely destroyed. But we can rebuild you, bigger and stronger than ever before. Your new body will cost the government $6,000,000. Or, we can give you the exact same body, except with a penis that is one inch longer, but that will cost an additional $5,994,000,000. It's up to you."

Coming soon: THE SIX BILLION DOLLAR MAN

 

[Hunter Rider]

I'm down for this, interested to see how the boiiiing sound effect is handled when he jumps.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

I demand a Lee Majors cameo!

 

[Dark Raven]

I'm glad this seems to be out of development hell. I think Wahlberg is a decent choice. He has a slightly Marlboro man look himself just like Lee Majors. I hope it's a straight action adventure thriller instead of a spoof, as was proposed a few years ago.

I think they ought to alternate the special effects in this movie between him running at super speed like the Flash, and having him run in slow motion at other times with the bionic sound effects. In the original TV films ("Wine, Women and War" and "The Solid Gold Kidnapping") before the series (but not really including the pilot), he did run at super speed and not in slow motion.

In fact, the Flash pilot, when Barry Allen was testing out his abilities and how fast he could run, reminded me a bit of the Six Million Dollar Man pilot when Steve Austin was running in his red tracksuit.

I wonder if they will introduce Jaime Sommers in this movie (even without her powers yet) or will they completely leave her out? I think she could be a love interest at first, but only later gain powers, perhaps in a sequel, or at the end of the movie. What would be cool is if, instead of just having a mere skydiving accident, her parachute is actually sabotaged this time round with someone (the villain in this movie?) trying to kill her.

If she is in this, who would people cast for her?

Also, they need actors for Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells. I think someone like Bruce Greenwood could work as Oscar.

And who should be the villain? The 7 Billion Dollar Man, Barney Hiller? I think they should bring back the original director of the OSO, Oliver Spencer, and make him the main villain, employing the 7 Billion Dollar Man as his lackey along with Bigfoot as his bionic monster lackey.

 

[gwynplaine]

Bryan Cranston would make a great Oscar Goldman.

 

[Whiskey Tango]

I am there. Loved this show as a kid, Berg's a very solid director and Wahlberg kicks ass.

Somebody needs to get to work on the Fall Guy movie, dammit.

♪♫ Wahlburgers, doo doo doo ♪♫

God I got so sick of that commercial.

 

[Dark Raven]

I hope they retain the theme tune for this movie. I wonder if they'll give him 2 bionic arms this time.

They also need to learn from the mistakes of that Bionic Woman TV series remake a few years ago.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

I would be ecstatic if someone could finally crack the nut of trying to make the Steve Austin/Bionic Man franchise work in the modern world. There have been quite a few attempts and none of them seem to work. The duo of the two Bergs might be the ones to do so.

 

[Dark Raven]

I would be ecstatic if someone could finally crack the nut of trying to make the Steve Austin/Bionic Man franchise work in the modern world. There have been quite a few attempts and none of them seem to work. The duo of the two Bergs might be the ones to do so.

I hope so too. The casting of Mark Wahlberg seems a step in the right direction. Some were trying to make it a spoof, but I hope this is a relatively serious action picture (with some elements of humour here and there).

Also, they should both change their names slightly for this movie as a nod to the original "Cyborg" novel upon which The Six Million Dollar Man is based: Mark Wahlborg and Peter Borg.

And honestly, the Six Billion Dollar Man has the advantage of having the whole catalogue of characters from the series to choose from which the original pilot didn't have at the time. They have some pretty cool villains and a ready-made love interest who could be interesting in her own right.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Look I could see a parody version working actually, but with Berg on board I am guessing this will be a serious action drama and that sounds good to me. I do think that long time fans, like myself, will have to cede some things to a modern interpretation. I think limited or perhaps no use of certain signature elements from the tv show should be the order of the day. So... No sound effects or limited use of slo mo. Let's remember that those effects were used for a television program in the 1970's. There isn't a need for them now. There also has to be some getting into the down sides of the situation Austin is in. Will he be working for OSI out of choice? How does he react to being rebuilt as a half man/half machine? Will he be thought of as dead by the public? There's lots of interesting places to take it if done straight. I would say keep the iconic theme, and if you are going to use the sound effects and slo mo... make it at like the finale not through the whole film.

 

[Dark Raven]

Look I could see a parody version working actually, but with Berg on board I am guessing this will be a serious action drama and that sounds good to me. I do think that long time fans, like myself, will have to cede some things to a modern interpretation. I think limited or perhaps no use of certain signature elements from the tv show should be the order of the day. So... No sound effects or limited use of slo mo. Let's remember that those effects were used for a television program in the 1970's. There isn't a need for them now. There also has to be some getting into the down sides of the situation Austin is in. Will he be working for OSI out of choice? How does he react to being rebuilt as a half man/half machine? Will he be thought of as dead by the public? There's lots of interesting places to take it if done straight. I would say keep the iconic theme, and if you are going to use the sound effects and slo mo... make it at like the finale not through the whole film.

I personally would prefer that he runs fast like the Flash to show off his super speed, but I understand that people would still like to see the signature elements. Like I said before, I think they could alternate between the types of special effects.

Like the Flash, or even like Quicksilver in XMOFP, both were shown at times running in slow motion. There was that whole scene in DOFP where Quicksilver was moving all the different things around in that room when breaking Magneto out of the Pentagon prison. So Steve Austin could be occasionally shown in slow motion in a kind of bullet time sequence in which those 70s sound effects could then be used. But then it would speed up again and show him running and moving at super speed.

 

[Pink Ranger]

They way I see it, Steve Austin should be a guy who can do all the Yuen Woo Ping wire fight stuff "for real," that's how I would approach the character.

 

[Dr.]

I personally would prefer that he runs fast like the Flash to show off his super speed, but I understand that people would still like to see the signature elements. Like I said before, I think they could alternate between the types of special effects.

Like the Flash, or even like Quicksilver in XMOFP, both were shown at times running in slow motion.

The novel (as I recall) was much more “grounded” that the TV show. During his initial training, for example, Austin was eventually able to break all world records in various running events. And his endurance could be sustained for much longer than any marathon champion. But… 60mph or super-high jumps weren’t in the bionic repertoire.

Personally, I think there’s enough material in a more “realistic” approach to make the action/adventure interesting. I.e., something like Captain America’s level of athleticism - impressive, but not too over-the-top.

 

[Dark Raven]

I could see Austin as a cross between Cap ands the Winter Soldier with his bionic arm. Cap ran at super speed when chasing that car after he first gained his powers, and he did the equivalent of a bionic leap.

 

[3dman27]

I hope so too. The casting of Mark Wahlberg seems a step in the right direction. Some were trying to make it a spoof, but I hope this is a relatively serious action picture (with some elements of humour here and there).

Also, they should both change their names slightly for this movie as a nod to the original "Cyborg" novel upon which The Six Million Dollar Man is based: Mark Wahlborg and Peter Borg.

And honestly, the Six Billion Dollar Man has the advantage of having the whole catalogue of characters from the series to choose from which the original pilot didn't have at the time. They have some pretty cool villains and a ready-made love interest who could be interesting in her own right.

bring steve on ,and Jamie as well

 

[Dark Raven]

Oscar Goldman better say the iconic line "we have the technology" and maybe even the opening dialogue "Steve Austin: a man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. "

I hope also that Walhburg styles his hair like Lee Majors.

 

[Duke]

I demand a Lee Majors cameo!

That there would be just excellent!!!!

Oscar Goldman better say the iconic line "we have the technology" and maybe even the opening dialogue "Steve Austin: a man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. "

I hope also that Walhburg styles his hair like Lee Majors.

Hearing those lines in the big screen would just make my spine tingle, just EPIC.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Oscar Goldman better say the iconic line "we have the technology" and maybe even the opening dialogue "Steve Austin: a man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. "

I hope also that Walhburg styles his hair like Lee Majors.

The trailer DEMANDS those lines get spoken. I can already see it. At first, with Wahlberg getting into a jet in full flight gear, some dialog calling him Steve but at first it's unclear what the movie is. Then the crash, Austin in the ER, tears, emotional music... Then a man comes into the room and makes Steve an offer. "Col. Austin... You may not believe this... But we can rebuild you. We have the technology. We can make you better than you were before... Faster... Stronger..." Cue the remixed theme music and quick cuts of Austin testing his abilities, then titles card. Crowd goes wild.