Mark Wahlberg has signed on to topline and Antoine Fuqua is on board to helm the political thriller "Shooter" for Paramount Pictures says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story centers on an ace marksman -- living in self-exile in the Arkansas wilderness after causing the death of an innocent person -- who is persuaded by his former associates that they need his help to prevent an assassination and who is subsequently double-crossed and framed for the presidential assassination he was trying to prevent. He is forced to go on the run while trying to track down the real killer and discover the truth about who betrayed him.

The studio is eyeing a June start date, with Jonathan Lemkin penning the screenplay based on Stephen Hunter's novel "Point of Impact" published by Bantam Books in 1993.