Just a few hours ago I was interviewing Mark Wahlberg for the upcoming comedy The Other Guys.  While I'm not supposed to say too much about what I thought, trust me when I say it's an awesome comedy that had me laughing from beginning to end.  If you're a fan of Adam McKay and Will Ferrell movies like Anchorman and Talladega Nights, you'll love it.  And Ferrell and Wahlberg's chemistry is perfect.  It's a great comedy.

Anyway, while I'll be posting my full exclusive interview with Wahlberg closer to the August 6th release of The Other Guys, since he gave me updates on The Raven, The Brazilian Job (the sequel to The Italian Job), Five Brothers (the sequel to Four Brothers), Cocaine Cowboys and David O Russell's The Fighter, I figured you'd like to get those updates today.   Hit the jump for more:

Here's the bullet point recap:

The Raven (the short film is at bottom of article)

  • Confirms Latino Review's scoop that he's setting up the project at Universal with the plan to star in it.
  • Is hoping the script gets delivered in about 8 weeks
  • They have the feature idea, they just need a good script

The Brazilian Job

  • Says the sequel to The Italian Job is getting active again

Five Brothers

  • Just got sent some pages to the script
  • Says in the sequel he assumes the parental position and he helps neighborhood kids.  They get into trouble.  Also, his biological dad had another sibling and that's how it's Five Brothers...

The Fighter

  • Says "it's the best film that I've been in."
  • We should be seeing a trailer fairly soon. Premieres December 10
  • Not premiering at Toronto although they talked about it

Here's the transcript of my interview about the films above.  Again, look for the full interview closer to release:

Collider: I have to ask you, a story broke online yesterday about the short film The Raven...

Mark Wahlberg: Uh-huh...

...and about you possibly being involved and Universal, is there any truth to that?

Wahlberg: Yeah, we went and set it up at Universal, I'm going to produce it with my partner Steve and I'm going star in it and it's going to be fuckin' insane, dude.  Have you seen it?

I did...

Wahlberg: It's crazy.  The idea for the movie is just off the charts.

Do you envision this as being, you're attached to many projects, what's bubbling for you right now?  How close is that in your future?

Wahlberg: Well, hopefully, we'll get a draft in about eight weeks.  We already kind of came up with the full-length feature idea and so it's just a matter of how quickly they can write the script.  I would love to go make that movie sooner rather than later.  We're working on the Cocaine Cowboys script, The Brazilian Job is now kind of getting active again, they finally sent some pages of the script for Five Brothers, and there's a bunch of other things that we're developing.

I was going to ask you, if you don't mind being specific, The Brazilian Job has been a project that Donald DeLine (producer) has talked about for a while and you've mentioned.  Is it really, you think, finally going to possibly go?

Wahlberg: Yeah, I think if it's ever going to happen it would be now.  But, you know, with any other movie that I've made there's been talks of sequels but if we can't make it any better or as good as the first, we just don't want to do it.  It's just not worth it.  Because that movie, with a good piece of material starting out and putting together a great cast, it ended up being a good movie and people really enjoyed it.  It was a lot of fun, it was smart, and so if we can capture that magic again then it's worth doing.  But, other than that...

We also mentioned the sequel to Four Brothers.  Where do you think that is status-wise?  Do you guys have a story for it?

Wahlberg: Yeah, it's a great idea. I kind of assume the parental figure or position, helping younger kids in the neighborhood, they kind of get into trouble.  Then I realize that my biological dad had another sibling and he decided to keep him and, you know, it's gets...

That's a cool film though.  I like the grittiness and the practicality of it.

Wahlberg: Yeah, wait until you see The Fighter, dude.

That's my next question.  I cannot wait to see this film, I've seen stills that I'm losing my shit over just looking at it.

Wahlberg: Yeah, it's the best film that I've been in.

That is a very strong statement.

Wahlberg: Well, it's the best story that I've been apart of and we made the best possible version of the movie by bringing David O Russell onboard to rewrite it and to direct it.  We always knew that it was a great drama, but there's a lot of humor as well as emotion, and obviously, you know, Micky Ward goes against all odds and wins the title.  But it's very real, it's a special movie.

Have you seen the final cut?

Wahlberg: They're still doing some tweaks and things, but yeah, I've seen the movie twenty times.  I mean, we're in there and then we went back and shot some additional stuff.  This became my baby and, you know, four and a half years of trying to get this movie made.

When do you think it's going to premiere?  When do you think we are going to see a trailer?

Wahlberg: You'll see a trailer fairly soon.  We're going to a marketing meeting at the end of this month.  I've already seen one cut of a trailer and everybody is just super excited about the movie.  It's coming out on December 10th.  So, we're excited.

Do you think there's a chance it could premiere in Toronto, or do you think you're going to do something like that?

Wahlberg: We talked about it, but I don't think it will end up doing any of that.  I think, you know, we're just going to go out and go big.

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And for those that haven't seen the short film The Raven, check it out.  This is Wahlberg is trying to turn into a feature film.