Mark Wahlberg’s upcoming film about the Boston bombings will star teen heartthrob Alex Wolff as terrorist Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Patriots Day – currently in production – is based on the 2013 terror attacks that killed three people and injured hundreds of others when two brothers detonated bombs at the crowded Boston Marathon finish line.

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The heavy subject matter will be a new experience for Wolff, who thus far is best known for his role alongside real-life brother Nat Wolff in the Nickelodeon musical comedy series The Naked Brothers Band.

Viewers may also recognise the 18-year-old teen star from the recent movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.

Alex and Nat Wolff have squeaky-clean images. Photo: Getty/Supplied

Little-known actor Themo Melikidze has been cast as Dzhokhar’s brother and fellow attacks mastermind, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Scars still raw

When rumblings of the Wahlberg-produced project emerged in 2015, local Boston journalist Charlotte Wilder acknowledged the inevitability of a film being made about the bombings, but argued it was too soon.

While the attacks occurred three years ago, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was sentenced to death by lethal injection by a jury in April 2015 after two years of preliminary hearings – a fact that may have extended the rawness of the horrific attacks.

Wilder and a number of other critics have suggested it is ironic that Wahlberg – a man who markets himself as a Boston man through and through – would move too fast on a film about the incident.

Wahlberg has admitted he feels enormous pressure to get the film right, and in doing so is trying to be as true to the event as possible.

The rapper-cum-Hollywood heavyweight has met some resistance from local Boston residents still reeling from the attacks.

Jeff Bauman’s boo, Stronger, has inspired another movie.

A group of Bostoners have opposed Wahlberg’s plan to recreate a fire in a local neighbourhood, while the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth denied requests to film where terrorist Tsarnaev studied prior to the attacks.

A star-studded line-up

Despite objections from some in the local community, the film’s solid cast is likely to draw audiences.

Thanks to his Nickelodeon exposure and accessible good looks, 18-year-old Wolff has built up a legion of devoted younger fans, while a number of veteran actors should bring in the older audience.

Kevin Bacon has been cast as FBI agent Richard DesLauriers, while Wahlberg himself – no stranger to playing policemen – will star as Sergeant Tommy Saunders.

Law & Order star JK Simmons will play Sergeant Jeffrey Pugliese.

Working against the film is the fact it no longer has the monopoly on its subject matter, with a newly-announced movie starring the equally popular Jake Gyllenhaal also centring on the 2013 bombings.

Stronger will take a different tack to Patriots Day, telling the story from the perspective of Jeff Bauman (played by Gyllenhaal) – the Boston man and bombings survivor whose iconic photo of the attack gained worldwide acclaim.

The film – soon to start production – will be based on the best-selling book of the same name by Bauman and Bret Witter.

Wahlberg has always professed himself a true Boston man. Photo: Getty