"2 Guns" might have gained Mark Wahlberg, but it has lost director David O. Russell and former star Vince Vaughn.
Russell had been circling the project in January when it was first announced that he would rewrite and direct the movie with Vince Vaughn in one of the lead roles. But now Deadline is reporting that Wahlberg is in negotiations for a starring role, while The Hollywood Reporter says that Russell and Vaughn are both out.
One wonders if Universal will go back to an earlier draft of the script, written by "Brotherhood's" Blake Masters.
Deadline is saying that adapting "2 Guns" has been a priority at Universal for a while now. The Steven Grant graphic novel tells the story of DEA agent Trench and undercover naval intelligence officer Steadman who are set up to investigate each other as men looking to steal the mob's money. But what neither of them realize is that they both have been conned into stealing $50 million from the CIA.
THR is saying that the studio is still eying a winter start date, so that means we should hear some more casting news over the next few months. It would have been nice to see Wahlberg and Russell reteam after their Oscar-winning "Fighter" collaboration, but it should be interesting to see who Universal finds to fill the directing gap. It's not the first time the two have missed out on reuniting recently: Wahlberg previously left Russell's "The Silver Linings Playbook," and their attempt to adapt the video game "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" fell apart recently as well.
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