'Wahlburgers' Star -- Bad Beef With Screenwriter

Mark Wahlberg missed out on another hit movie because one of his pals dropped the ball ... according to a screenwriter who says he got screwed after paying Mark's friend a hefty fee.

John Hurley says he contacted Henry "Nacho" Laun -- Mark's friend, driver, and security guard on "Wahlburgers" -- to see if he could get his script about roofers ... on Mark's desk.

John says he met up with Nacho last year in Boston, and forked over $1,000 for him to deliver the aptly titled, "The Roofers" script to Mark.

But Wahlberg never saw the pages, and Hurley claims Nacho admitted he didn't get the job done.

Now Hurley is threatening to sue Nacho if he doesn't set up a phone meeting with Wahlberg. It seems unlikely that Mark would be happy to meet a guy who threatened to sue his buddy, but whatever.

Nacho tells us he did briefly meet Hurley (pics confirm that), but he denies everything else.