Mark Wahlberg to helm hacker film

As we recently reported on TG, the film Sneakers just had its 20th anniversary, and WarGames will hit its 30th anniversary next year.

Both movies are still fan favorites, and it makes you realize we’re overdue for another great hacker movie, especially considering technology’s come a long way since.

In this regard, Mark Wahlberg may be giving us what we need, because the Hollywood Reporter tells us he’s optioned a GQ article called “The Hacker is Watching.”

The article was penned by David Kushner, who writes about technology for a number of publications, including Vanity Fair and Wired, and he also wrote the books Masters of Doom, and Jacked, the story of the GTA franchise.

Kusher’s GQ article, which appeared in the January issue, is about Luis Mijangos, a hacker who sent out Instant Messages that enabled him to spy on young high school girls. And in this day and age, this could indeed make a very creepy, Hitchcock style voyeur thriller, updated with modern technology. 

Wahlberg has this project set up at Universal, with his producing partner Stephen Levinson, who both also put together Entourage and Boardwalk Empire. Speaking of Hitchcock, Jonathan Herman, who’s writing the script, also recently penned a remake of The Birds. 

Unlike the prospect of the world being engulfed by killer birds, this is a true story, and a cautionary tale of trying to protect our privacy in a day and age where cameras are everywhere, and anyone with enough patience can figure their way through practically any computer system. If this film, which is currently untitled, can make us realize how easily our privacy can be invaded by an anonymous cyberstalker, it should definitely strike a terrifying nerve.