Winston Duke, who had a breakout role in the smash hit “Black Panther,” is set to star opposite Mark Wahlberg in the Netflix crime drama “Wonderland.”
Pete Berg is set to direct with Neal H. Moritz producing via his Original Film banner, alongside Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Berg via his Film 44 company.
The film is being adapted from the novel “Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland,” written by Ace Atkins. The book is part of the Spenser series — named after a fictional character in the series of detective novels initially written by American mystery writer Parker and later by Atkins.
The story follows Spenser who, fresh out of prison, is sucked back into Boston’s underbelly as he uncovers the truth about a sensational murder and the twisted conspiracy behind it.
Parker’s Spenser character has been the basis for 48 novels, all New York Times bestsellers.
Sean O’Keefe is adapting the script. Toby Ascher will executive produce alongside Film 44’s John Logan Pierson.
Duke will play Hawk, Spenser’s close friend and an equally tough, but somewhat shady image of Spenser himself. Production is expected to start this fall.
Duke has had a successful year, starting with his breakthrough role in “Black Panther” as M’Baku. After the film went on to crush box office records, tallying $700 million at the domestic box office, Duke quickly became a rising stars, with CAA signing on to represent him.
He landed one of the leads in “Us,” Jordan Peele’s highly anticipated follow-up to the Oscar-winning pic “Get Out.” He’s also been tapped to star in the Paramount Players pic “Heroine.”