http://chud.com/nextraimages/wahlberg4bros1.jpgI like Mark Wahlberg a lot. And that’s really saying something, because I was a little indie rock snob at the peak of his Funky Bunch days, and the disdain my type felt for his type was hard to overcome. But Mark did overcome them, I was even rooting for him at the Oscars this year, and barely even snickering at the idea of him being a potential Oscar winner.

All that being said, if my kid was in a science class being taught by Mark Wahlberg, I would have some very strong words for my local school board. Just imagine if he was teaching chemistry and someone asked him for the base. But M Night Shymalan sees that science teacher inside the Calvin Klein pitchman, and he’s hired Mark to star in his next feature, The Happening. "Mark has a unique blend of charisma, humanity, authenticity and skillfulness as an actor ;" said Shyamalan. "All of which coalesced at this moment in his career, making him the perfect person to take on the role of Elliot Moore, the science teacher at the center of this event."

The Happening, you’ll remember, is a ecological thriller, where the planet Earth itself starts getting some revenge on the polluting humans. I dearly hope that the tage line is ‘It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature!’

The other big bit of news from this is that Fox is opening The Happening on Friday the 13th of June, 2008. I imagine that they’re hoping that by going for a jinxed date they can avoid the recent Shyamalan curse, ie this movie will not suck.