Dylan O’Brien is set to star alongside Mark Wahlberg in Infinite, an upcoming action thriller based on a novel by D. Eric Maikranz. The actors have previously worked together on Deepwater Horizon, a disaster drama based on the real life oil spill and explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.
Their second collaboration will tell a decidedly different kind of story. Maikranz’s novel, titled The Reincarnationist Papers, is a science fiction fantasy that follows a group of nearly immortal women and men with the ability to reincarnate. This group has lived for centuries, known as The Infinite, and they soon find themselves having to rely on a man that suffers from schizophrenia in order to defeat an evil mastermind. The man, played by Wahlberg, has motives of his own: He’s seeking to join the ranks of this powerful group. Chris Evans was initially attached to the role but, due to scheduling conflicts, Evans was replaced by Wahlberg in June.
As reported by Variety, O’Brien will be joining Wahlberg in a role that's being kept under wraps. The two will be joined by Sophie Cookson, who appeared as Roxy Morton in both Kingsmen films, with the screenplay written by the duo of John Lee Hancock and Ian Shorr. Hancock, in particular, has worked on a number of notable films including The Blind Side and Saving Mr. Banks. The project will be helmed by Antoine Fuqua, who previously directed the Oscar winning Training Day.
Since landing the role of Stiles Stilinski on MTV’s Teen Wolf, O’Brien has carved out a diverse filmography. He’s gone perhaps the expected route of headlining his own franchise, in The Maze Runner, and he’s also tried his hand at playing a romcom lead in The First Time. More recently, he’s swung from being a vengeful assassin, to providing the voice of Bumblebee, to playing Ed O’Neill’s love interest in one of Weird City’s best-reviewed episodes.
A look at O’Brien’s upcoming slate reveals that his tendency to strive for varied portrayals will only continue. The actor will next be seen in Monster Problems, a comedy about a young man who battles monsters on his way to finding true love. He will also share the screen with Maika Monroe in a thriller that involves time travel. While O’Brien has said, earlier in his career, that he doesn’t get to pick his roles, it does seem as though he has a penchant for mixing the seemingly mundane with the utterly unusual. Infinite, set to be released in August 2020, certainly falls into the latter category.
Source: Variety