It's been a long time since there has been reason to get excited over a Denzel Washington movie. For years now he's basically starred in the same style of mid-budget thriller with a co-star not charismatic enough to stand in his way. He'll do the same this weekend in Safe House alongside Ryan Reynolds. Washington's complacency as an actor hasn't worried Universal, however, as his films continue to make money, enough that the studio wants him for another major flick with franchise potential.
Deadline reports that Washington has entered talks to star with Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns, an action comedy based on a graphic novel by Steven Grant. The film has had it's share of problems, initially set to star Vince Vaughn and directed by Wahlberg's (ex?) buddy, David O. Russell. Both of them left just as Wahlberg was confirmed, and a few months later Baltasar Kormakur, who just worked with Wahlberg in Contraband, stepped in to direct.
With a script by Blake Masters, the story follows a DEA agent and a naval officer tasked with stealing some mob money, who unwittingly investigate each other. So this sounds like it fits neatly into Washington's recent run of films, although Wahlberg is the level of co-star he hasn't seen since Russell Crowe in American Gangster.
