A big screen adaptation of the classic 1970s era TV series The Six Million Dollar Man is in the works, with Mark Wahlberg poised to take the lead. The title has been tweaked for the film version to raise the stakes. It’s now The Six Billion Dollar Man. The project is an updated take on the adventure drama based on Martin Caidin’s novel Cyborg, which stared Lee Majors as Steve Austin, a crippled test pilot who is reconstructed with nuclear-powered limbs and implants and goes on to become an intelligence agent.

Wahberg, who is also one of the producers, expressed his enthusiasm for the project, saying, “I’m thrilled to assemble The Six Billion Dollar Man for the big screen with the likes of Bob Weinstein and Damian Szifron. We look forward to creating a Steve Austin for the 21st century.”

It’s now routine for classic TV series to get the big screen treatment, but The Six Million Dollar Man, which was ahead of its time when it premiered over 40 years ago, makes sense as a contemporary movie, given the trend of sci-fi films featuring cyborgs and other hybrid characters.

The screenplay was written by Argentinian filmmaker Damian Szifron (Wild Tales), who said, “Writing the screenplay was such a fantastic ride, and embarking on this journey with Mark, Bob and Stephen to take this story to a whole new level is simply spectacular.”

In addition to writing the script, Szifron is eplacing Peter Berg as the film’s director.

Scheduled to begin shooting in September of next year, The Six Billion Dollar Man is slated for release on Dec. 22, 2017.