〉 The original premiered at the 2013 Venice Film Festival to critical acclaim.
In a continuation of Hollywood’s affinity for remaking high-profile foreign films, Mark Wahlberg is set to star in an adaptation of Yuval Adler’s Israeli drama BETHLEHEM for Paramount.
Wahlberg has also signed on to produce the film alongside frequent collaborator Stephen Levinson with whom he has worked on Entourage, The Gambler and the forthcoming Boston Marathon bombing pic Patriots Day. Elizabeth Raposo and Gabby Canton will oversee at Paramount. A writer and director for the project has yet to be announced.
The original Bethlehem tells the story of the complex relationship between an Israeli Secret Service officer and his teenage Palestinian informant that grows even more morally conflicted, when the young man learns his employers are plotting to assassinate his radical brother. Shuttling back and forth between conflicting points of view, the film is a raw portrayal of characters torn apart by competing loyalties and impossible moral dilemmas, giving an unparalleled glimpse into the dark and fascinating world of human intelligence.
Adler directed the original Bethlehem and co-wrote the script with Ali Wakad. The film was screened at the Venice Days section during the 2013 Venice Film Festival and it won the Fedeora Award for Best Film. It was also selected as the official Israeli entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Adler has since broken into the Western market and is set to direct the supernatural horror Salem Village at STX Entertainment as well as the Amazon-set eco-thriller The Last of my Tribe.
No stranger to acting in American adaptations of foreign films, Wahlberg starred in Martin Scorsese’s The Departed, a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Internal Affairs for which he nabbed an Oscar nomination. He recently reunited with The Other Guys co-star Will Ferrell for the comedy Daddy’s Home but will turn back to drama in the upcoming Deepwater Horizon. He is currently filming Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight where he will reprise his role as Cade Yaeger.
He is repped by WME and Leverage Management.
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Dino-Ray Ramos | Staff Writer
