The Six Billion Dollar Man, Starring Marky Mark

The idea of remaking or reprising classic TV shows is in serious danger of becoming a trend. Twin Peaks is coming back, Bewitched is getting a reboot and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan is currently working on a gritty, post-watershed, live-action rendition of The Flintstones. Only one of the things I just said was a lie. Elsewhere, turning attention towards the silver screen, Dimension Films have drafted Friday Night Lights and Hancock director Peter Berg to craft a cinematic adaptation of The Six Million Dollar Man.

For those too young to remember (or just had better things to do at the time), The Six Million Dollar Man starred Lee Majors as Steve Austin, an astronaut wounded almost to the point of death in plane crash and then rebuilt using state-of-the-art technology. He then took to the art of crime-fighting, mostly in slow motion with silly music. This new film version, The Six Billion Dollar Man, because inflation, will take its basis more from Cyborg, the 1972 source novel by Mark Caidin. In place of Lee Majors, Mark Wahlberg will take on the role.

This won’t be the first time the two ‘bergs have joined forces, they worked together at the end of last year on Lone Survivor, a film about soldiers rolling down a series of steep, rocky hills. Allegedly this film will carry none of the campy charm of its predecessor and be more geared towards the drama. With all the superhero movies currently cropping up (and a recent remake of the similar, arguably more interesting Robocop still stagnating on the new releases shelf) it seems like a less-than-ideal time to reboot a franchise like this one. Not that I would ever suggest that the Weinsteins make mistakes, no no, they’re bulletproof.

The film is set for a 2016 release and it potentially paves the way for a Bionic Woman redux. Well, another Bionic Woman redux. One that’s actually good.