Mark Wahlberg had a lot of regret in terms of movie projects he made in the past, but nothing as embarrassing as his streak of flop films. The actor notably starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening in 2008, which of course, failed critically.
He booked another project that he thought would finally save his career, but John Moore’s Max Payne only worsened his bad luck. The movie also tanked miserably both at the box office and critic reviews.
Mark Wahlberg Thought Max Payne Will Save His Career
During his interview with Hollywood.com at the 2008 Comic-Con, actor Mark Wahlberg raved about his new Max Payne film after suffering from the failure that was M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening. He indirectly slammed the movie by claiming Max Payne saved him from utter embarrassment.
I remember The Happening had just come out, and I walked into the editing room with it, the looping stage, with John [Moore] and he showed me some s—t, and I was just f—king screaming with excitement. I was so happy that my career was saved!
He went on to babble about how his life, credibility, and ability to show his face in the hood again were saved by the neo-noir action film. Wahlberg expressed his intent to portray different characters in movies, although he finds his niche in this particular genre.
This is the kind of thing that I want to go and see. I also don’t want to be told what I can and can’t do. I want to try something different. I want to be able to you know play a lawyer, play a doctor, but I feel most comfortable when I’m in a world like this.
Unbeknownst to him, the movie would become an addition to his collection of bombed films. It only made $87 million against a budget of $35 million with a disappointing 16% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Similarly, The Happening grossed over $163 million against a budget of $48 million. However, it has a poor rating of only 18%. Just when Wahlberg thought his career was finally picking up, it started to slide down again.
Max Payne Writer Admits His Fault In Regards To Franchise’s Failure
Sam Lake, the writer of Max Payne, admitted via IGN that he was “detached” during the making of the movie.
I was quite detached [but] I was happy that there was a movie at that point. I think that was worth celebrating.
He knew exactly why it flopped as he went on to compare and contrast the video game to the movie’s storytelling. He claimed that the games were truly faithful to noir films.
Moreover, he contemplated questions about the true core of the game and the aspects that should have been carried into the screen adaptation. “Maybe that thought process didn’t go into making the Payne movie,” he confessed.
The Happening and Max Payne are both available to stream on Prime Video.
