Mark Wahlberg has revealed he filmed new movie Flight Risk with director Mel Gibson in just 22 days in a candid new interview.
The actor, 53, takes on the lead role of a hitman in the thriller, set for release October 18 and marking Gibson’s return to directing for the first time since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge.
Praising 68-year-old Gibson’s work ethic, he said: ‘He knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it, but he was also open to collaborating,
‘Again, to be shooting 15, 20 pages a day, something that I had never done before. I’ve shot down ‘n dirty, but, like 30 days was the fastest I’d ever done a film. This was in 20 or 22 days.’
Wahlberg and Gibson have previously worked together as actors in 2022’s Father Stu and 2017’s Daddy’s Home 2.
Mark Wahlberg has revealed he filmed new movie Flight Risk with director Mel Gibson in just 22 days in a candid new interview
The actor, 53, takes on the lead role of a hitman in the thriller, set for release October 18 and marking Gibson’s return to directing for the first time since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge – seen 2017
He said: ‘Having seen Apocalypto a million times and Braveheart and every other film that he’s directed, he’s such a talented filmmaker.
‘It was one of those things where, between the part and to getting to work with the filmmaker, for me it’s always top of the list: the script, the director and the part are the three main components when making a choice,’
Wahlberg plays a pilot hired to fly a U.S. Marshal Harris (Michelle Dockery) and witness (Topher Grace) slated to testify against the Moretti crime family.
The script from Jared Rosenberg landed on The Black List in 2020, the annual list of most-liked unmade scripts from that year.
Then in May 2023, Mel Gibson signed on to direct, with Wahlberg attached to star, reuniting with Gibson with Wahlberg.
The Flight Risk project marks the first time that Gibson was taking the helm since his 2016 Best Picture nominee, Hacksaw Ridge.
The film started production in June 2023, and was one of several projects to receive a SAG-AFTRA waiver for filming to continue during the writer and actor strikes.
Hacksaw Ridge – which was locally made as an Australian-U.S. co-production for US$40million, it went on to gross $180million worldwide.
Nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge won prizes for Editing and Sound mixing.
Praising 68-year-old Gibson’s work ethic, he said: ‘He knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it, but he was also open to collaborating, ‘Again, to be shooting 15, 20 pages a day, something that I had never done before’ – pictured 2022
Wahlberg, 53, plays a pilot hired to fly a U.S. Marshal Harris (Michelle Dockery, above) and witness (Topher Grace) slated to testify against the Moretti crime family
The script from Jared Rosenberg landed on The Black List in 2020, the annual list of most-liked unmade scripts from that year
Gibson’s last directorial project Hacksaw Ridge Hacksaw Ridge went on to gross $180million worldwide and was nominated for six Oscars – seen Andrew Garfield in the film
It also won nine Australian Academy Awards (AACTAS) including Best Picture.
What neither the Marshal or the witness realize at first is the pilot is not who he says he is, ultimately revealed as a hitman for the Moretti family.
Lionsgate announced back in May that the film was given an October 18 release date, putting it up against Paramount’s Smile 2 and Searchlight Pictures’ A Real Pain with Kieran Culkin and Jesse Eisenberg.
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