20th Century Fox is ready to bring on the pain.. Max Payne, that is.. The studio is reportedly looking to put the long - gestating game - to - film adaptation before cameras in the coming months.. The studio has included Max Payne on its slate of pre - strike projects.. And it looks like 20th Century Fox has Mark Wahlberg in the crosshairs for the role of Max Payne..

The story centers around a New York cop, Max Payne, whose wife and baby are murdered by criminals high on a new drug called Valkyr.. Without much left to live for, Payne joins the DEA and goes undercover with the mob to discover the source of the drug.. Framed by the murder of his partner, Max is hunted down by both the mob and the cops in his one - man war on crime..

John Moore ( Behind Enemy Lines, Flight of the Phoenix ) will helm the adaptation which will begin filming early next year..

The script was written by Beau Thorne.. Julie Yorn is producing through Firm Films, along with Scott Faye..

Producer Scott Faye told Tomorrow’s Entertainment recently, that the film will tell the origin story of the character.. He claims..

” It’ll have a Dirty Harry - like tone and that the lead role calls for an actor with some chops.. I think this is a real actor’s part because although the story will have action and intrigue, at its core it’s a story about a man who loses everything in life that’s dear to him..”

The 2001 self - titled third - person shooter noir crime thriller video game followed up with a sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, in 2003.. Inspired by the Hong Kong action movie genre ( Particularly the work of director John Woo ), the game featured slow - motion violence and gunfights.. Many gamers have drawn comparisons to The Matrix, although Max Payne went into development before The Wachowski Brothers went into production ( However, the game came out two years after The Matrix, and the developers decided to call the slow motion effect ” bullet time ” ).. The game is also notable for doing away with cutscenes, instead opting to tell the story through ” graphic novel ” sequences..

Some changes have taken place with the story; they kept the dead family, but it seems like the conspiracy angle has been tossed.. Now, the story is about a cop ( Wahlberg ) with, ” little regard for rules as he investigates a series of mysterious murders.. He finds himself up against an adversary bent on destroying Max and the streets he protects..”

Max Payne is tentatively scheduled to start shooting early next year, after Wahlberg finishes DreamWorks’ The Lovely Bones, and head for theaters in 2010.. All I ask is that they don’t get too carried away with the slow - motion sequences!