VATICAN CITY (RNS) Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson will star in a movie about a boxer-turned-actor-turned Catholic priest known as “Father Stu,” scheduled to be released on Good Friday, April 15.
Wahlberg, a Catholic, has reportedly been wanting to tell the story of the Rev. Stuart Long for years and will take the title role. Gibson, the outspoken Catholic who directed and produced “The Passion of Christ” in 2004, will play Long’s father.
Gibson’s partner Rosalind Ross wrote the script and will be making her directorial debut with the film.
Long was born in Seattle in 1963 and had a promising football career at the Catholic Carroll College before becoming a boxer. After winning the Montana Golden Gloves boxing championship in 1985, he was forced to leave the ring forever after breaking his jaw.