Bumblebee director Travis Knight has signed on to make Mark Wahlberg's The Six Billion Dollar Man film.
Back in 2014, studio executives announced that The Fighter actor would play Colonel Steve Austin, who becomes half machine following a near-death accident, in an adaptation of the classic 1970s sci-fi TV show starring Lee Majors.
Filming was originally due to begin in early 2015, though stalled following the departure of Peter Berg and Damian Szifron from the project. However, editors at Variety confirmed on Tuesday (16Apr19) that Knight was joining the film, with Ozark and The Accountant screenwriter Bill Dubuque penning the script. Sue Kroll, Bill Gerber, and Stephen Levinson are to produce the movie.
Knight is perhaps best known for working as the lead animator for stop-motion animation studio Laika and helming the films like 2016's Kubo and the Two Strings and 2018's Bumblebee.
Starring Hailee Steinfeld and John Cena, Bumblebee is a live-action spin-off of the Transformers franchise, and not only won largely positive reviews but also grossed over $466 million (£356 million) at the worldwide box office.
Neither Knight nor Wahlberg has yet commented on the news.
Previously, Warner Bros. bosses indicated that they planned to release The Six Billion Dollar Man in June 2020, though that date has not yet been confirmed. The studio purchased the rights to the movie from The Weinstein Company, the production company co-run by disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, in late 2017.
No other casting details have been announced. Wahlberg was most recently seen onscreen in action movie Mile 22 and comedy-drama Instant Family. The 47-year-old is currently in the post-production phase of his frequent collaborator Berg's Wonderland, in which he plays an ex-felon named Spenser who returns to Boston's criminal underworld to unravel a twisted murder conspiracy.
Meanwhile, Knight has served as a producer on the animated movie Missing Link, which features the voices of Hugh Jackman and Zoe Saldana.
