Mark Wahlberg will produce and star in an expanded version of Ricardo de Montreuil‘s short film, The Raven for Universal Pictures. The original sci-fi short was directed by Montreuil and shot on the RED camera in Los Angeles with a budget of $5,000 dollars and was wildly popular when it hit the internet back in April (Check it out below).

The Raven tells the story of Chris Black, who “possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him. The chase is on as Chris runs for his life in this sci-fi thriller set in an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles.”

The Raven

Wahlberg tells CinemaBlend that he has been developing the feature version of The Raven for about a month and plans to both produce and star in the film as Chris Black.

Wahlberg said,

“It will be a very, very different kind of superhero movie, certainly not me running around with a cape on or some suit. The idea that they came up with for the feature is spectacular.”

The feature film will be directed by de Montreuil, and Wahlberg expects the script, written by Justin Marks to be completed in six to eight weeks and plans to start shooting immediately thereafter.