After Daddy’s Home 2 and Father Stu, Mark Wahlberg is once again joining hands with Mel Gibson for Flight Risk which will hit theatres later this year. Clearly, Mel Gibson is completely focused on rebuilding his name in the industry after being in the dead center of many controversies in the late 2000s.
While he has starred alongside Mark Wahlberg in the last couple of films, Flight Risk will have him sitting behind the camera lens and on the director’s chair. The upcoming film’s storyline sure seems promising; however, it looks like they have taken a page out of the script of Nicolas Cage’s iconic 1997 action thriller, Con Air.
Did Con Air Inspire Mark Wahlberg’s Next Film?
After 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge, Mel Gibson finally returned to direct his next feature, Flight Risk, and who better to collaborate with than Mark Wahlberg, his long-time companion? Jared Rosenberg, who is also working as a writer on the upcoming miniseries Driver, is responsible for the film’s script.
The film follows the story of a “balding an psychotic mob hitman who tricks a federal agent into allowing him to pilot a plane carrying an informant out of a remote area” (Via Variety). Given the fact that Flight Risk is all about transporting a fugitive to their trial, does the plot ring any bells?
Well, if you have had the privilege of watching Nicolas Cage and Simon West’s Con Air, you might find a huge similarity between the plots of the two films. Upon its release, the film received mostly positive reviews where the critics agreed that while it was not completely out of the world, it was still a pretty thrilling watch. It was also a box office success and soon became a cult classic amongst the Cage fandom.
In Con Air, Cage’s Cameron Poe, an honorably discharged Army Ranger, is sentenced to ten years in prison for accidentally killing one of the three men who tried to assault his pregnant wife. After 8 years, Poe is paroled and hops onto a prison transport plane carrying other convicts who are a bit too dangerous. Needless to say, it doesn’t take time for things to go south and the plane is soon hijacked by the criminals.
Given the fact that both Con Air and Flight Risk revolve around the story of a prison transport gone wrong, we cannot help but relate one film to the other and neither can the fans. Take a look at what fans have to say about the upcoming film:
We already saw Con Air 30 years ago
— 𝕏 Meme Team (@XMemeTeam) May 20, 2024
Wonder how similar it will be to Con Air
— Samantha J. Foster Composer (@sjfostersound) May 20, 2024
Sounds like a repeat.
— Zen (@AgapeLoveAllDay) May 20, 2024
Con Air?
— Whatever happened there? (@unclephillyL) May 20, 2024
So Con Air ? 🤷♂️
— Jonathan Ortega (@Jonatha80958138) May 21, 2024
Well, since Flight Risk has now been associated with Con Air, it sure raises the expectations of fans waiting to see Gibson and Wahlberg’s next team-up. Will the film surpass Con Air or not is a question that will be answered in just a few months.
Mark Wahlberg Talks About His Role in Flight Risk
In an interview with Collider, Wahlberg opened up about working with Gibson again, albeit this time as a director-actor duo. He stated that it was “phenomenal” working with Gibson and found it remarkable to watch and study him for a few weeks.
Wahlberg said,
It was phenomenal. Really, me being the sponge and loving to work with people who have great talent and to be able to just watch him and be a student for the 20-some-odd days was remarkable.
When asked about his role, Wahlberg admitted just how exciting it was to finally play a true-blue bad guy, something which he hadn’t done since his film Fear which was released in 1996.
I play the craziest f-cker you’ve ever seen. I haven’t played a bad guy since Fear. It’s off the charts. It’s crazy.
Given how passionate Wahlberg seems to be for his upcoming film and the role he’s playing, it looks like Flight Risk will be a thrilling ride so hold onto your seats!
Flight Risk will be released in theatres on October 18.
