B10 The Boston Globe WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019
Names
After 10 seasons of pranks, business decisions,
and plenty of burgers, “Wahlburgers” will come to an
end this week.
Prior to the show’s finale, the three brothers at the
center of the show —Mark,Donnie, andPaulWahl-
berg— sat down with “Entertainment Tonight Cana-
da” to discuss what the show has meant to the family,
and how it brought all of them closer together.
Donnie went so far as to say that “Wahlburgers”
had “rebuilt” the family, allowing them to connect in
person after years of living their own lives apart from
one another.
“Of the many, many things that have come out of
this crazy journey for us as brothers, as business part-
ners, the best part is that it’s rebuilt our family,” Don-
nie told ET, tearing up. “It really meant a lot to me.
When the restaurant came about, we started to con-
nect more regularly because of the business, but it
didn’t require us to be in the same place. We could do
conference calls and get our jobs done without being
in the same room more than one or two times a year,
but the show changed that.
“Not that there were any rifts or anything, but wewere off doing our own things and the farther you are
physically, the easier it is to lose track of the years,”
Donnie continued. “Time drifts you apart and when
you have wives and kids you tend to be around your
mom and siblings less because you need to be with
your own family. The show reconnected us by putting
us in the same room together more often and that’s
changed the culture of how we run the restaurant.
We make the effort to be together more and it has re-
connected us in the way that the business alone
wouldn’t have.”
The three brothers also said that making “Wahl-
burgers” had been a positive experience for their
mother,AlmaWahlberg.
“This show, the restaurants, and all of those
things gave her new purpose and it was great that
that helped her,” Mark Wahlberg said. “She loved do-
ing the show. Well, she actually complained about it
the whole time, but she was so upset when I told her
it was ending!”
The three-hour series finale of “Wahlburgers” airs
Wednesday, July 31 starting at 8 p.m. on A&E.
KEVIN SLANE, Boston.comPerhaps heeding the adage that if
you want a job done right, do it your-
self, composer-lyricist-actorDaveMal-
loywill star as Herman Melville in his
musical adaptation of Melville’s “Mo-
by-Dick,’’ slated to premiere at Cam-
bridge’s American Repertory Theater
in December.
The full cast for “Moby-Dick’’ — in-
cluding the performers who will por-
tray such figures as Captain Ahab, Ish-
mael, Queequeg, and Starbuck — will
be announced in the coming weeks,
according to the ART.
Malloy, who wrote the music, lyr-
ics, and book for “Moby-Dick,’’ has
some notable experience adapting
massive 19th-century novels: His
“Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet
of 1812,’’ presented at the ART in
2015, was a musical adaptation of a
section of Tolstoy’s “War and Peace.’’
For “Moby-Dick,’’ Malloy will reteam
with “Natasha, Pierre’’ directorRachel
Chavkin, who helped develop the new
musical (and who recently won a Tony
Award for “Hadestown’’).
It won’t be Malloy’s first time per-
forming on an ART stage: Back in
2011 he played a woebegone fellow
agonizing over whether he should call
his ex in a music-theater piece he co-
created, titled “Three Pianos.’’ Struc-
tured around “Winterreise,’’ Franz
Schubert’s musical settings of poems
by Wilhelm Müller, “Three Pianos’’
was also directed by Chavkin.
DON AUCOIN“Spotlight” directorTom McCarthy
is returning to Massachusetts. The
Academy Award winner is starting
work on a new film starring Cam-
bridge nativeMattDamon(inset)
next month, titled “Stillwater.”
He has also enlisted “Little
Miss Sunshine” starAbi-
gailBreslinto star in the
film, according to Variety.
The film will follow an
Oklahoma oil-rig worker
named Bill, played by Da-
mon, who embarks on a
journey to visit his estranged
and imprisoned daughter in
France. Facing cultural differences
and difficulties, Bill makes it his mis-
sion to exonerate his daughter, played
by Breslin, who has been accused of
murder. Along the way, Bill develops a
friendship with a local woman and her
daughter, who help him on his jour-
ney. McCarthy joined forces with
ThomasBidegainandNoeDebreto
write the script.
Participant Media, the pro-
duction company behind
“Spotlight,” picked up the
film in May after Damon
jumped on board. Pro-
duction is set to begin in
August, with McCarthy,
LizaChasin,Jonathan
King,JeffSkoll, andMariJo
Winkler-Ioffredaproducing.
Damon’s next stop on the big
screen will be alongsideChristianBale
in “Ford v Ferrari,” expected Nov. 15.
Breslin will also star in “Zombieland:
Double Tap” which is due Oct. 18.
CHRIS TRIUNFOAmyPoehlerhas her sights set on
animation: Fox recently ordered her
new family animation series, “DUN-
CANVILLE.”
The Burlington native and Golden
Globe winner co-created and executive
produced the series withMikeandJu-
lieScully, executive producers of “The
Simpsons.” Poehler stars as the voice
of two characters, and will be joined
again by her “Parks and Recreation”
costarRashidaJones,aswellasWiz
Khalifa, who voiced in the animated
series “American Dad!” and “BoJack
Horseman.”
“DUNCANVILLE” follows the life
of an average 15-year-old boy named
Duncan, his family, and his friends.
Poehler voices Duncan and his moth-
er, who is “constantly trying to prevent
her son from ruining his life,” WWNY’s
CraigThorntonreports.
Fox has ordered 13 episodes of the
series, which is scheduled to premiere
during the 2019-20 season. Produced
by 20th Century Fox Television and
Universal Television, “DUNCAN-
VILLE” was co-created through Poe-
hler’s Paper Kite Productions.
MARTHA MERROWJust weeks after replacing fel-
low Massachusetts nativeChrisEv-
ansinAntoineFuqua’s sci-fi thrill-
er “Infinite,”MarkWahlberghas
been collared for another leading
role.
The Dorchester-bred actor will
star in “Arthur the King,” a true-life
tale of four-legged friendship that
Paramount Players is shepherding
toward the big screen. Based on
MikaelLindnord’s autobiographi-
cal “Arthur: The Dog Who Crossed
the Jungle,” the story will focus on
Lindnord — a Swedish adventureracer — and his unlikely relation-
ship with a big-hearted street dog.
Back in 2014, Lindnord was
competing in Ecuador with an ex-
treme sports team when he offered
a canned meatball to a badly
wounded stray dog, who then fol-
lowed them for the remainder of
the epic, 400-mile race through the
Ecuadorian jungles. The tale of
their friendship won the hearts of
millions worldwide.
Wahlberg will play Lindnord,
working from a script by “Chicago
Fire” scribeMichaelBrandt, alsoknown for penning the “3:10 to Yu-
ma” remake. The project continues
Wahlberg’s strong alliance with
Paramount, which was behind the
actor’s roles in two “Transformers”
movies as well as both “Daddy’s
Home” comedies and recent re-
lease “Instant Family.”
“Infinite,” also at Paramount,
is expected to shoot this fall, be-
fore Wahlberg turns his attention
to “Arthur the King.” The Holly-
wood Reporter first broke the
news.
ISAAC FELDBERGNot to be outdone by “Office” co-
star/co-writer (and close friend)
MindyKaling— whose 10-episode
take on “Four Weddings and a Fu-
neral” premieres Wednesday on
Hulu —B.J.Novakis busily plotting
his own TV takeover.
As first reported by Deadline,
FX has ordered a pilot for a new se-
ries from Novak called “Platform,”
an episodic anthology series that
the Newton native will write, di-
rect, and executive produce.
“Booksmart” breakoutKaitlyn
Dever, “Lady Bird” costarLucas
Hedges, and “The Punisher” star
JonBernthalare all set for roles in
the series, as are “Narcos” starBoyd
Holbrook, “Long Shot” actor
O’SheaJacksonJr., comedian
GeorgeWallace, and TV veteranEd
Asner.
Production kicked off Monday
on “Platform,” which will feature adifferent cast and story in each epi-
sode; as part of the pilot order, two
will reportedly be shot, each with a
distinct tone and focus. As per FX’s
release, the series “uses the boldest
issues of our times as a jumping off
point to tell singular, character-
driven stories about the world we
live in today.”
This is far from Novak’s first
time behind the scenes on a TVproject. He wrote, executive pro-
duced, and directed episodes of
“The Office” for NBC, also starring
as Ryan Howard. He later part-
nered with Kaling — a Cambridge
native — on her series “The Mindy
Project,” wearing all four hats again
for that half-hour comedy, which
aired three seasons on Fox before
moving to Hulu for another three.
ISAAC FELDBERGDave Malloy will star in his own
‘Moby-Dick’ musical at the ART
© AMNH/D. FINNIN“Moby-Dick”adapter/starDaveMalloyanddirectorRachelChavkin.
A&E NETWORKMark Wahlberg and Alma Wahlberg
on an episode of “Wahlburgers.”Show of strength
Brothers discuss how ‘Wahlburgers’ ‘rebuilt’ the family
Matt Damon and Tom McCarthy
making ‘Stillwater’ with Abigail Breslin
Mark Wahlberg has lead role in
real-life dog saga ‘Arthur the King’
B.J. Novaksets
FX pilot with
‘Booksmart,’
‘Lady Bird’ stars
AMY SUSSMAN/INVISION/AP/FILEJON KOPALOFF/GETTY IMAGES/FILEAmy Poehlerteams
up with ‘Simpsons’
producers for new
animated series