Mark Wahlberg And Peter Berg Stretch MILE 22 Into Franchise Territory At CinemaCon

Development of STX Entertainment’s long-awaited Asian action thriller, Mile 22, has been on hold for sometime now. Call it a really slow brew – nearly two years, in fact. Thankfully though, the film is in play at the studio where the film has taken shape to some degree with a few changes since then.

Graham Roland’s script currently has Deepwater Horizon star/director pair Mark Wahlberg and producer Peter Berg attached with the actor cast for the role of Silva – last described as a “complex” character, “a salty intelligence hack who has shoveled shit on four continents”. His newest shot at redemption now sees him battling through corrupt cops, criminal overlords and heavily-armed locals in order to escort a compromised informant to an airport 22 miles away.

As of this week, Deadline and Variety have it on good terms from events at CinemaCon that they’re looking toward the film as a potential trilogy starter with the first tethered as an intelligent, adult action film. Given the cast roster thusfar, this could possibly mean more martial arts action with the exponents like Iko Uwais (Headshot) and former UFC Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey (Furious Seven), while hopfully things don’t linger too much for Wahlberg who says the film still needs tweaking to suit his needs. “I still don’t feel like I have the movie, the role, that defines me,” says the actor.

Nothing else specific has been mentioned yet about production but the best part of this is that the film is still stirring about. Rousey’s other film prospects (My Fight Your Fight, Road House) have remained quiet since her two consecutive UFC losses last year but with Uwais involved and given the setting, this could undoubtedly bring just the uptick she needs on the film front.

Uwais recently wrapped Timo Tjahjanto’s solo directorial debut, The Night Comes For Us with lead actor Joe Taslim and is on deck to appear with Frank Grillo in Liam O’Donnell’s Beyond Skyline with production on the ensemble actioner, Triple Threat, commencing in Thailand next month under helmer Jesse V. Johnson. Wahlberg will star in Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight, opening on June 23.