Mark Wahlberg’s next movie continues a surprising trend and confirms his new strategy for success in Hollywood. For several decades, he has been one of the most prominent actors in the world.Mark Wahlberg’s best moviesincludeBoogie Nights,The Fighter, andThe Departed. Additionally,he has also starred in several successful action and comedy moviesthroughout his career.
Movies likeTransformers: Age of ExtinctionandTed, along with many others, have led to Wahlberg experiencing a lot of success at the box office. In total, the actor’s movies have grossed $5.4 billion at the box office. Despite this,Wahlberg’s next movie, the heist thrillerPlay Dirty, will go straight to streaming.
Thefirst official image forPlay Dirtywas recently released, and it has been confirmed the movie will debut on Prime Video on October 1. In the film, Wahlberg plays a thief who attempts a high-stakes heist. Since many of his action movies are great,the release ofPlay Dirtyis very exciting, but it also continues an interesting trend for the actor.
Play Dirty Is Another Streaming Movie For Mark Wahlberg
Over the past several years, we have witnessed many of the biggest box office draws make more and more streaming movies. Nowadays,streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video, and Apple TV+ are dishing out just as much money as major Hollywood studiosto produce original content. This has been a major change for the industry, but it should now be considered the norm.
Some of the films that these services produce do receive theatrical runsbefore they start streaming. For example, despite being produced by Apple and bound for its streaming service,F1: The Moviehas been one of the most successful movies at the box office this summer. However, this will not be the case forPlay Dirty.
Instead of playing in theaters first, Wahlberg’s next movie will premiere directly on Prime Video. At this point, this should no longer be a surprise, especially since this has been the case for most of his movies this decade.Spenser Confidential, which debuted on Netflix in 2020, was Wahlberg’s first streaming movie, but he has starred in many others since.
n/a
29%
36%
70%
7%
42%
41%
17%
39%
48%
Streaming (Netflix)
35%
Spenser Confidentialwas undoubtedly the start of a major career shift for Wahlberg. As seen in the above table,out of his last 12 movies, including the upcomingPlay Dirty, seven of them have gone straight to streaming. Out of this group,The Union,The Family Plan, andInfinite, in particular, were major successes on their respective streaming services.
The success of these movies is an indicatorthatPlay Dirtywill be a huge hit on Prime Video. Joining Wahlberg in the film are LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, and Chukwudi Iwuji. Additionally,Play Dirtywill bedirected by Shane Black, who is best known for writingLethal Weaponand directing acclaimed movies likeKiss Kiss Bang Bang,Iron Man 3, andThe Nice Guys.
This exceptional cast and the talent behind the camera suggests thatPlay Dirtycould be one of Wahlberg’s best recent movies. Many of the actor’s aforementioned films have received underwhelming reviews, so it would be great to see him star in an acclaimed Prime Video hit.
Mark Wahlberg Is More Of A Streaming Star Than A Box Office Star Now
Play Dirtypremiering on Prime Video further proves that Wahlberg is distancing himself from the biggest Hollywood studios. He has obviously found success at the box office in the past, buthe unfortunately hasn’t had any major hits this decade. In fact, 2022’sUncharted, which grossed $407 million globally (viaBox Office Mojo), is his only significant box office hit of the last few years.
Aside fromUncharted,none of Wahlberg’s other recent theatrical releases performed very well at the box office. Admittedly, movies likeJoe BellandFlight Riskreceived poor reviewsfrom critics, so Wahlberg’s dwindling box office returns could be the result of him choosing the wrong roles. Regardless, this is something that he doesn’t really have to worry about for his streaming movies.
In contrast to the aforementioned theatrical releases, Wahlberg’s recent streaming movies have brought in huge viewership numbers on their respective platforms.Apple TV+‘sThe Family Plan, despite receiving quite negative reviews upon its release in 2023, is even getting a sequel, which is currently in post-production.
Even Wahlberg’s past movies, whether they be comedies, dramas, or action films, have performed incredibly well on streaming services. To name a few,Daddy’s Home,The Other Guys,The Fighter, andDeepwater Horizonconsistently rank highly on streaming. Therefore,it’s clear that Wahlberg is an actor that people still want to watch, even if it’s mostly from the comfort of their own homes.
Since Wahlberg has found way more success on streaming in recent years, it doesn’t seem to be an accident that he has embraced services like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Prime Video. Instead of relying on box office returns,he is counting on streaming movies to retain his stardom. Ahead of the release ofPlay Dirty,Mark Wahlberg’s current strategy for success is clear.
