Ryan Phillippe Will Star in Mark Wahlberg’s Role in TV Version of ‘Shooter’
Ryan Phillippe (Secrets and Lies) will take on Mark Wahlberg’s role in a TV adaptation of the big screen action drama Shooter, set to air on USA. The cable channel, which recently moved toward darker programming, has reportedly ordered a pilot for the drama.
The 2007 film, based on Stephen Hunter’s best-selling novel Point of Impact, revolves around Bob Lee Swagger, an off-the-grid former Marine sniper who is persuaded to protect the President against a possible assassination but gets double-crossed and framed for the attempt on the President’s life. Swagger is subsequently forced to rely on his sharpshooter skills to capture and expose the traitors who set him up.
There is a clear trend favoring this subject matter, following the success of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper and the upcoming NBC series The Reaper, which is based on a memoir by former U.S. Army sniper Nicholas Irving.
The series is being written and co-executive produced by John Hlavin (Underworld: Awakening). The pilot will be directed by veteran TV director Simon Cellan Jones, whose most recent credits include Dwayne Johnson’s new sports themed HBO dramedy, Ballers.
In addition to starring in the series, Phillippe will serve as a producer on the project. The actor will soon be seen on the big screen, co-starring alongside Rosamund Pike in the dramatic thriller Return to Sender, due out August 14, 2015.
Wahlberg, who is executive producing the show, said of Phillippe’s casting, “I love the character of Bob Lee Swagger, and we are thrilled to have Ryan on board for the show.”
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Ryan Phillippe Will Star in Mark Wahlberg’s Role in TV Version of ‘Shooter’
Ryan Phillippe (Secrets and Lies) will take on Mark Wahlberg’s role in a TV adaptation of the big screen action drama Shooter, set to air on USA. The cable channel, which recently moved toward darker programming, has reportedly ordered a pilot for the drama.
The 2007 film, based on Stephen Hunter’s best-selling novel Point of Impact, revolves around Bob Lee Swagger, an off-the-grid former Marine sniper who is persuaded to protect the President against a possible assassination but gets double-crossed and framed for the attempt on the President’s life. Swagger is subsequently forced to rely on his sharpshooter skills to capture and expose the traitors who set him up.
There is a clear trend favoring this subject matter, following the success of Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper and the upcoming NBC series The Reaper, which is based on a memoir by former U.S. Army sniper Nicholas Irving.
The series is being written and co-executive produced by John Hlavin (Underworld: Awakening). The pilot will be directed by veteran TV director Simon Cellan Jones, whose most recent credits include Dwayne Johnson’s new sports themed HBO dramedy, Ballers.
In addition to starring in the series, Phillippe will serve as a producer on the project. The actor will soon be seen on the big screen, co-starring alongside Rosamund Pike in the dramatic thriller Return to Sender, due out August 14, 2015.
Wahlberg, who is executive producing the show, said of Phillippe’s casting, “I love the character of Bob Lee Swagger, and we are thrilled to have Ryan on board for the show.”
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