Mark Wahlberg in 'Max Payne'After sitting around for years, a movie version of the video game Max Payne finally got rolling earlier this year, with Mark Wahlberg cast in the lead role.I have to say it's not the collection of talent I would have expected for this film: Director John Moore (The Omen), plus Beau Bridges, Donal Logue, Chris O'Donnell, Ludacris, and Mila Kunis.Kunis plays an assassin and Wahlberg is Payne, a DEA agent. Together they have to solve a series of brutal murders before basically every institution with guns and money gets them first.The international trailer for Max Payne has just been released, and while I originally thought Wahlberg was not the best choice for the part, I might change my tune now.
'Max Payne' makes leap from video game to filmComic-book fans aren't the only nerds with Hollywood knocking at their doors for material. Video-game enthusiasts are finding their fare more popular than ever as Max Payne leads a wave of big-screen adaptations. Payne stars Mark Wahlberg in the title role as a DEA agent who teams with an assassin (Mila Kunis) to solve a string of murders. On its heels are film versions of popular games Gears of War and Bioshock. Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard) is expected to direct War, due next year, while Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has been tapped to direct Bioshock, slated for 2010. Wahlberg concedes he was not a Payne gamer but says one of his assistants "plays it all the time, and I probably watched him play more than I should. It's got a story line more complex than most video-game movies." Whether that's enough for box-office success is uncertain. Game adaptations tend to be feast (Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, $131 million) or famine (BloodRayne, $2 million).Kunis says it's daunting trying to please video-game fans. "I made the mistake of stumbling on an Internet site of fans and what they thought of the casting," she says. "I hope I don't cross them on the street before the movie. Maybe they'll change their minds when I'm in leather pants and bustier."
Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg says Max Payne is his "favourite role so far".The former Funky Bunch figurehead reckons the part resonates with his "out of control" youth, and the lessons he learned growing up."I was lucky to get through it, but it made me stronger and, I hope, wiser. I had a lot of demons to fight. Maybe that's why this character is my favourite role so far," Wahlberg told Total Film."There's a definite theme of Max fighting the devils inside. There's a lot of action in this movie, but there's also plenty of emotion and psychology. It goes pretty deep."Deep, but not dirty, explained Wahlberg, who said action can be done without buckets of blood or swearing or sex. He also wants "as many people to see [the film] as possible".Wahlberg was allowed to add more than a sprinkle of humour, too."John [Moore - director] let me make the character much more than a one-note action tough guy," he added."Sure, I raise my voice, get in people's faces... But I ramp up the humour, too. He's like a version of my character in The Departed - sly and cynical but also very funny. That's the kind of thing people like to see me doing."The film does have plenty of action, Wahlberg assures us; after all, Max Payne did slow motion gun-play before the Matrix, and Wahlberg said he did his stunts without wires and green-screens.Wahlberg stars alongside Mila Klunis who plays Meg in Family Guy, rapper Ludacris, rubbish Robin Chris O'Donnell and Friends actress Nelly Furtado in the film.Max Payne heads to cinemas in the UK this October.