Justin Bieber To Show Off Dramatic Chops In Streetball Film

Casting News, News, Projects, Rumors

One of the more interesting things about the celebrity game during the NBA’s All-Star Weekend was pint-sized pop star Justin Bieber winning the game’s MVP while holding his own against a variety of former NBA stars and athletic celebrities. Based on this, Deadline is reporting, Mark Wahlberg and his production are company are trying to get Bieber into a dramatic role in a Karate Kid meets Color of Money type of film involving basketball.

What does this mean? That Paramount, which most recently cleared almost $100 million against a $13 million budget with Never Say Never, wants to be in the Justin Bieber business. It’s apparently quite profitable. While normally this would lead to a number of snide comments if it was just Bieber looking to do a dramatic role, one thing stands out: Mark Wahlberg

Wahlberg doesn’t produce things he doesn’t believe in personally. The guy has a track record and if he sees something in Bieber that might be worthwhile it could lead to something good. Wahlberg does executive produce Entourage and How To Make It In America for HBO, both series that have gotten good reviews from fans and critics alike, and if Bieber gets a similar sized audience as he did before against a similarly budgeted film Paramount could have a second money-making project with Bieber on their hands.

The other interesting thing is that Bieber is talented enough on the court to make this work: