Thanks to James Bond, the spy movie genre is commonly associated with a refined air of sophistication. Bond’s tuxedo, Aston Martin, martinis, and pretty much everything else about his style speaks to the classy upper-crust of British society. But Mark Wahlberg is about to turn our idea of spy movies on its head by playing a “blue-collar 007” in the upcoming action-thriller Our Man From Jersey.
The title of the film appears to be a play on Our Man in Havana, the 1958 spy parody novel that became a 1959 spy parody movie starring Alec Guinness. As for the plot of Our Man from Jersey, not much is known, but we’re going to take a stab in the dark and say that Wahlberg plays a regular Joe from New Jersey who somehow gets embroiled in an espionage adventure.
The idea for the film came from Ballers creator Stephen Levinson, who will produce the film alongside Wahlberg. While in quarantine, the pair conducted a number of Facetime meetings with potential screenwriters and liked the pitch from Safe House scribe David Guggenheim the best, so he was brought on to write the film’s screenplay, according to Deadline. Welcome to Hollywood’s new normal.
The film is simply being touted as a spy/action movie at this time, so it’s unknown if it will have any comedic elements. The title and concept both seem to hint at comedy, and Wahlberg frequently takes action-comedy roles, so we’re inclined to believe that this movie will have a relatively silly feel. But even if the film plays it straight, it still sounds like it could prove interesting. We’re always down for a good spy movie, and when you throw in a legit action star like Wahlberg and a concept that we haven’t really seen before, well, then you’re really cooking with gas.
