Baltasar Kormakur will direct the pilot of HBO’s “The Missionary,” a spy thriller that Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson and Malcolm Gladwell are executive producing.
Set in Cold War-era Berlin, the project follows a young American missionary who becomes involved in the CIA.
Charles Randolph wrote the script, with Levinson's Leverage and Wahlberg's Closest to the Hole Production producing.
Kormakur (left) and Wahlberg have struck up a healthy working relationship dating to 2012’s “Contraband.” Kormakur directed that crime thriller, which Wahlberg starred in. It grossed almost $100 million at the worldwide box office.
The two teamed up again for “2 Guns,” another crime thriller that stars Wahlberg and Denzel Washington. It just finished production and is due for release next August
Kormakur is an Icelandic director who mixes big-studio productions with more independent fare, such as "The Deep," Iceland's nominee for a 2013 Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
More television projects are bringing high-profile directors aboard to direct the pilot, perhaps most notably with Martin Scorsese on "Boardwalk Empire." "Boardwalk" is one of four HBO shows produced by Wahlberg over the years, a list that also includes "Entourage," "In Treatment" and "How to Make it in America."
