On-again, off-again film “The Six Billion Dollar Man” appears to be on…again. However, this time it might actually get made, as the Mark Wahlberg-starring potential franchise-starter has signed Travis Knight to helm the action film.
According to Variety, Travis Knight is the latest filmmaker to be attached to Wahlberg’s attempt to bring the classic ‘70s action TV series, “The Six Million Dollar Man,” to the big screen. Knight is probably best known for his latest film, “Bumblebee,” which brought new life to the dying “Transformers” series. Before that, he helmed the beloved animated film, “Kubo and the Two Strings.”
“The Six Billion Dollar Man” is a modern-day take on the classic ‘70s series and tells the story of Colonel Steve Austin, a former astronaut and all-around badass, who becomes a secret agent when he is implanted with bionic components, granting him superhuman powers.
As mentioned, it’s been a long, difficult road to bring “The Six Billion Dollar Man” to theaters. Back in 2014, Wahlberg was brought on to star in the film, and the project went into development. Then in 2015, Damián Szifron (the acclaimed director of “Wild Tales”) was hired to pen the screenplay and eventually was named the director. He toiled around for three years on the project, but left the production in 2018, after the film became one of many films involved in the whole Harvey Weinstein fall from grace. From there, the anticipated release date of 2019 was pushed to 2020.
Now, it appears that the film will be pushed even further, as Knight will no doubt have a different take on the material and writer Bill Dubuque has changed the script. But either way, it seems as if the threat of Wahlberg’s “The Six Billion Dollar Man” is actually becoming a reality. Maybe.