Mark Wahlberg is Peter Berg's 'Six Billion Dollar Man'

You can credit 40-plus years of inflation for the title of 'The Six Billion Dollar Man,' the upcoming big screen remake of the beloved '70s series 'The Six Million Dollar Man.' The project is in the early stages of development, but director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg are officially attached, reuniting the duo after last year's box office hit, 'Lone Survivor.'

The news comes to us via Deadline, who report that the production is still finalizing its financing.

Like the original television series, 'The Six Billion Dollar Man' will follow an astronaut who is horribly wounded while testing an experimental plane. In order to save his life (and because science!), doctors transform him into a cyborg, replacing his legs, arm and eye with robotic versions. Now capable of fantastic feats of strength and speed, he's recruited into a spy agency and fights the forces of evil. Think of it as 'RoboCop' without the satire.

Even though the youth of today probably aren't familiar with the original show, it still engenders a lot of nostalgia for some folks (even those of us who caught it in re-runs on the Sci-Fi Channel during the '90s). However, the youth of today don't have to be familiar with 'The Six Million Dollar Man' to appreciate a movie about a half-robot Mark Wahlberg kicking ass and what-not.

Right now, we're mostly curious about the tone of this project. Although 'Lone Survivor' was a deadly serious affair, both Berg and Wahlberg are at their best when they're allowed to goof off. After all, Berg is the madman behind the still-wonderful 'The Rundown' and the hugely underrated 'Battleship' -- he can create wonderful entertainment when he's allowed to wink and nudge. Wahlberg can be a little dry when tasked with playing a completely straight leading man action-hero type, but give him some wisecracks and he's suddenly more comfortable. Hopefully, this won't be a completely serious cyborg spy movie. That would just be silly.

There is no release date set for 'The Six Billion Dollar Man,' but you can get your next hit of Wahlberg on December 19, 2014 with 'The Gambler.'