Action superstar Mark Wahlberg (“2 Guns”) leads the cast of the critically acclaimed war thriller “Lone Survivor” as Marcus Luttrell, a real-life Navy SEAL whose book has become a motivational resource for its lessons on how the power of the human spirit is tested when we are pushed beyond our mental and physical limits.

Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and resilience, “Lone Survivor” tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and bravery as they stay in the fight to the finish.

Early during the development of the action-thriller, director Peter Berg mentioned to Mark Wahlberg that “Lone Survivor” was a film he wanted to tackle, but at the time, they each had other projects in various stages of production.

Once Berg had the script at a place where he felt comfortable, he sent it to Wahlberg, who had purposely chosen not to read Luttrell’s book in advance. “The problem when adapting a piece of material like that,” says the actor, “is that you always feel like something is missing. I wanted to come at it from this perspective.”

As both a producer and an actor, Wahlberg’s reaction to the script was enthusiastic, and he agreed to portray Luttrell, the team’s medic and one of its snipers. “I was moved by the screenplay, so I felt like we were on the right track. I loved the balance of the drama, action, humor and emotion,” he says. “In the first act, you’re meeting these guys, seeing how much they love each other and what they’re doing out there. Then when Red Wings is a go, you see the shift from playful to all business.”

Wahlberg admits that the selflessness of both the SEALs and the Afghan villagers shook him deeply: “What makes this story so special is the bond and the camaraderie between the guys, but also the state of where we are in the world today. The act of heroism by Gulab and his fellow villagers moved me the most. I found it so inspiring, and it gave me so much hope for the world.”

Although Wahlberg has played characters based on real people before, in such films as “The Fighter” and “Invincible,” he admits that it’s never easy to do this kind of story justice: “I always feel some weight when portraying somebody in real life, whether they’re alive or not. I want to make sure that I make them and their family members proud.” Knowing that Luttrell would be available to offer guidance proved to be a welcome bonus. Says Wahlberg: “I loved speaking with Marcus about his relationship with those guys, because it always made him feel good to talk about how much he loved them, how much they loved him and how tight they were.”

When Wahlberg considers his time spent with the cast and crew, he reflects that working on “Lone Survivor” ranks at the top of his professional achievements as an actor and producer. He says: “This is the best working experience I’ve ever had, under the toughest conditions. I remember early on as an actor, you worked a long, hard day, but you did something you felt was special, and that car ride home you couldn’t stop thinking about it. I had that feeling every day on this movie.”

When discussing what it was like to watch someone else play him, Luttrell admits that it was initially odd. He says: “Wahlberg is a consummate professional, and he’s a great actor. It was a little strange watching somebody trying to play me, but we talked about it and I knew it would turn out great. I was more worried about the other guys because they’re not around to speak for themselves.”

Opening across the Philippines on Jan. 8, 2014, “Lone Survivor” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

The true-to-life, war action-thriller “Lone Survivor” reunites Taylor Kitsch with director Peter Berg, after the No.1 box-office hit “Battleship” and NBC’s critically acclaimed sports drama “Friday Night Lights.”

Based on The New York Times bestselling true story of heroism, courage and resilience, “Lone Survivor” tells the incredible tale of four Navy SEALs on a covert mission to neutralize a high-level al-Qaeda operative who are ambushed by the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. Faced with an impossible moral decision, the small band is isolated from help and surrounded by a much larger force of Taliban ready for war. As they confront unthinkable odds together, the four men find reserves of strength and bravery as they stay in the fight to the finish.

Berg had discussed “Lone Survivor” with Kitsch years before production began. “He’d been raving about the book and the story for three-plus years,” recalls Kitsch. “So I started reading the book. Part of the way in, I said to myself, ‘This role is once in a lifetime.’ I called Pete up and said, ‘When you’re ready, I’m ready.’”

Kitsch plays the on-ground leader of Operation Red Wings, Lieutenant Michael Murphy (aka “Murph”), a respected Navy SEAL who walked into a clearing and drew enemy gunfire for his men. Kitsch, like the rest of his performers, felt the heavy weight on his shoulders to honor Murph and his fellow fallen servicemen. He reflects: “It’s a beautiful, true story that needs to be told right. It’s gutting, intense and encompasses why they do what they do, which is for each other—first and foremost.”

Kitsch knew that getting the nod to play the lieutenant would be a responsibility he wouldn’t take for granted. He reflects: “Murph’s actions speak louder than anything he’s ever said, and they should. I think he was that type of leader who just loved his guys, and getting the nod to play this guy was something special.”

The fact that he was portraying a real-life warrior who distinguished himself in the line of duty was not lost on Kitsch. Murphy posthumously received the U.S. military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, becoming the first person to do so for actions during the war in Afghanistan. Subsequently, a Navy destroyer, the USS Michael Murphy, was also named in his honor. The accountability to the memory of this man weighed heavily on Kitsch. “It doesn’t go away,” he explains about the sense of responsibility that comes with the project, “and I’m sure the rest of the guys will say that, too. You just try and do everything possible to do it justice.”

Kitsch knew that having Marcus Luttrell, the author of the first-person memoir “Lone Survivor,” on set would be an asset throughout production. He says: “It was remarkable to have him there. When you take on something like this, you think, ‘How will Luttrell and Murph’s family react?’ You’re playing his best mate and their son, so those are the people that you want to come up to you and say, ‘Thank you,’ more than anyone else.”

In 2012, Kitsch was seen in Oliver Stone’s “Savages” alongside the riveting Salma Hayek and Benicio Del Toro. Earlier that year, he starred in Peter Berg’s “Battleship,” opposite Liam Neeson, Rihanna and Alexander Skarsgård, and Disney’s live-action film “John Carter,” which was directed by two-time Academy Award® winner Andrew Stanton (“WALL-E,” “Finding Nemo”).

Opening across the Philippines on Jan. 8, 2014, “Lone Survivor” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.

When retired Petty Officer First Class Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson’s book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10 was published in 2007, it quickly rose to the top of The New York Times nonfiction best-seller list.

This true story of duty and honor in the face of extreme adversity and the heroic deeds of fallen comrades caught filmmaker Peter Berg’s attention when his production partner, Film 44’s Sarah Aubrey, gave him a copy of the book and insisted that he read it. Although in production on his then-upcoming blockbuster “Hancock,” Berg began to flip through it during a lunch break. After a few minutes, he was transfixed, locking the door to his trailer and reading the book cover to cover. Determined to win the rights and adapt “Lone Survivor” into a film, Berg became a man obsessed.

Berg offers: “When I first read Marcus’ book, what got me the most was the dilemma that these men faced: being compromised by three goat farmers and knowing that if they let them go, there was a very good chance they were going to get into a dangerous gunfight with a lot of guys.”

Inevitably, the SEALs’ journey struck the themes that the director has returned to over and over again in his projects. Says the writer/director: “This story is about working together for something bigger than our ego, bigger than our individuality. It’s about coming together as a group—protecting each other, loving each other, looking out for each other—and finding a greater strength as a team than you could ever find as an individual. Marcus wrote a book that, as much as it’s about 19 people being killed on a tragic day in Afghanistan, is about brotherhood, sacrifice and team commitment.”

Berg and Aubrey reached out to Luttrell to discuss the possibility of adapting the SEALs’ story into a film. Luttrell appreciated the filmmaker’s military-like attention to detail and guerilla-style of filmmaking and insisted to Berg that he would only grant him rights to the story if Berg truly respected and honored his brothers’ sacrifice. Indeed, Luttrell hoped that audiences around the world would begin to understand the decisions made on that mountain. After a bonding experience over many beers, and a not-so-thinly-veiled threat that Berg would have to answer to more than 1,000 SEALs if the director messed up the interpretation, Luttrell was on board.

The former SEAL discusses why he chose Berg: “There were so many directors and studios that came in and wanted to make the movie, and I interviewed with all of them. But when I saw Pete and talked to him, he’s the one that I got that certain feeling about. He was the one I thought could get it done.” Luttrell was impressed by the filmmaker’s dedication. “Pete went above and beyond. He’s done all his homework, studied it for years to get this right, and it paid off. You can tell somebody who puts the work in and you can tell somebody who didn’t. He did, and I love him for it. He’s a good man, and it’s a privilege to have him in my life.”

While Luttrell’s book is a chronicle of many events, including his 1999 enlistment and training prior to his mission in 2005, Berg realized that the screen adaptation would need to concentrate on the more dramatic tale that unfolded once Luttrell was deployed to Afghanistan. His focus for the screenplay became the unbreakable camaraderie of the team members, their valor under fire and the tragic turn that forever changed the life of sniper, hospital corpsman and SEAL Luttrell.

While Berg knew that there would be significant pressure to get their story just right, he couldn’t anticipate the depths to which he would become emotionally involved in the lives of these elite warriors and their relatives. He pauses: “There was pressure from the families, the SEAL community, and then Marcus—whether I liked it or not—announced that he was moving into my house for a month. He was going to make sure I understood what happened on that mountain.”

Just as they were about to cast the film and begin production, Berg was given more pressure than he had expected. Luttrell recalls: “I felt so sorry for Pete because he got it so bad from every team guy, from every widow. We just kept saying, ‘Don’t mess this up.’ But I think that’s also something that fueled him. That’s why the movie is great and why people are responding to it so strongly, because he put 110 percent into it…probably because he knew his life was on the line.”

Opening across the Philippines on Jan. 8, 2014, “Lone Survivor” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.