Wahlberg For BP Oil Spill Movie: A Bad Idea?

I don't know what's stranger, that Summit is making a movie out of the disastrous BP oil spill of 2010, or that they're eyeing Mark Wahlberg for the lead. The movie, currently titled Deepwater Horizon is in early stages of development with a script by Matthew Michael Carnahan (World War Z) and with J.C. Chandor attached to direct.

What immediately strikes me about this feature is what a strange creative mix is on display. While Chandor's latest release All is Lost starring veteran actor Robert Redford received much acclaim upon release, I worry that he might struggle with a script from the writer of World War Z - a movie that was better than many thought it would be, but that isn't saying very much when everyone's expectations were at rock bottom.

(Left) Wildlife caught in the BP Oil disaster of 2010, (Right) Actor Mark Wahlberg

When you add producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura into the mix, whose most recent movie is the explosive abomination Transformers: Age of Extinction, you can't help but wonder what tone this movie is going to have. While Chandor's sophisticated style could be brought over in a film that serves as a respectful memorial for the workers who died on the rig, while perhaps even commenting on the environmental cost of the leak, Bonaventura's Transformers history may turn it into something far less remarkable. There's a definite risk of this movie being just another generic feature wherein a muscly hero (Wahlberg in this case) does everything he can to stop an impending disaster.

And that brings me to the potential casting of Mark Wahlberg. While the former "musician" - if that's the right term to describe what Marky Mark was - has proven he can act in the outstanding David O. Russell movie, The Fighter, he has also proven himself less capable in such movies as M. Night Shyamalan's abysmal The Happening.

At this point, the movie could really go either way. It is, after all, still in the very early stages of development. But right now, my expectations for the movie are unfortunately low. Let us know how you feel about the movie in the comments below, on our Facebook page, or on Twitter.

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