Update: Variety’s Jeff Sneider reports that Wahlberg has since passed on the project, though Johnson is still in talks.
Michael Bay has his eyes on two pieces of muscle for his long-in-the-works dark comedy Pain and Gain. Dwayne Johnson and Mark Wahlberg, to be exact. And while Johnson is further along in talks to take on the small action-comedy, Wahlberg is being wooed as well. The two both starred in 2010’s action comedy The Other Guys [Variety].
Based on a 1999 Miami New Times article, Pain and Gain concerns a group of Florida bodybuilders who get caught up in a heist, which turns into a kidnapping, and worse and worse. Set in the Sun Gym, an establishment with a clientele made up of ‘cops and bad guys,’ in the summer of 1994, this true story is ripe with drama and ludicrous comedy. If you don’t believe it, read the article yourself.
Bay has long made public his desire to get the movie made. The filmmaker has claimed it would cost a relatively-microscopic production budget of $20 million, and principal photography that will be “a very quick shoot and quite funny.”
Reading the article, it’s clear this would be new territory for Bay, who’s made a career of avoiding any kind of development that isn’t literally robotic. From the seductive, bodybuilding, real-life con man Daniel Lugo to the eclectic crew that’s put together to commit these crimes, this project could serve as a fresh start for Bay in a creative capacity.
And while Bay continues to declare Pain as his next film, Paramount is hoping he’ll come back to direct Transformers 4 and 5 back to back, which Bay has also denied, saying:
“I am currently not talking to Paramount on T4 and T5 despite reports. I’m looking at a lot of possibilities coming my way right now weighing options. Most likely going to be doing the low budget Pain and Gain, a true story crime thriller. It’s a very quick shoot and quite funny. Also just finishing the 3 disc set of the Transformer trilogy.”
This bit of news helps Bay’s passion project more than Paramount’s hopes for more fighting robots.
What would you rather? Two more Transformers films? Or Pain and Gain?