Ben Foster and Giovanni Ribisi to join Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale in the thriller Contraband

A couple of years ago, Icelandic thriller REYKJAVIK-ROTTERDAMN was released, and it was produced, co-written, and starred Baltasar Kormakur (who directed the recently released INHALE). Now, according to Variety, Kormakur will direct a remake of that very same film to be called CONTRABAND.

Already aboard are Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale, and now Ben Foster (THE MECHANIC) and Giovanni Ribisi (THE RUM DIARY) are currently in talks to join them. Variety says the story “follows a security guard played by Wahlberg, who after running into some financial troubles decides to go on one more smuggling run.” Which could be the same logline for so many thrillers we’ve already seen, though the Icelandic original is said to be a pretty strong film (it was that country’s submission for last year’s Best Foreign-Language Oscar).

CONTRABAND will begin production next month and already has a release date set for March 16, 2012.