Summary
With nearly 20 years gone since it first hit theaters,Shooteris climbing the Paramount+ charts. TheMark Wahlberg-led movieserved as an adaptation of Stephen Hunter’sPoint of Impact, centered on former USMC Force Recon sniper Bobby Lee Swagger as he’s initially tasked with plotting a presidential assassination in order to prevent a real one, only to subsequently be framed for the murder of the President’s guest. Also starring Michael Peña, Kate Mara and Danny Glover,Shooterwas only a modest success in its initial release, garnering generally mixed reviews from critics and grossing just shy of $96 million against its $61 million production budget.
Collideris now reporting that, 17 years after its release,Shooteris quickly climbing the streaming charts on Paramount+. As of the time of writing, the 2007 military action thriller has secured the No. 8 spot on the platform’s Top 10 list of movies available in their library, a slight dip from its recent No. 5 spot. The movie is sharing the Top 10 with John Krasinski’sIF,PAWPatrol: The Mighty Movie, Tom Cruise’sJack Reacher,South Park: The End of Obesity,PAW Patrol: The Movie,Jack Reacher: Never Go BackandTop Gun: Maverick.
Now Is The Perfect Time For A Sequel To Wahlberg’s Shooter
Though it may not have been a smash hit in theaters on its release, the streaming climb of Wahlberg’sShootermay not come as much of a surprise when looking back at its home media figures. Within a year of hitting shelves on DVD, the action-thriller grossed an additional $56 million which, when combined with its box office gross, doubled its production budget. The movie also remains a fan-favorite among Wahlberg fans alongside his othermajor military action movie,Lone Survivor, withShooterstill maintaining an 80% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.
With this renewed streaming resurgence, and success on home media, now seems like the perfect time for aShootersequel to be considered with Wahlberg reprising his role.Point of Impactwas only the first of six novels focused on the character of Bobby Lee Swagger, two of which were later adapted for the Ryan Phillippe-led USA Network show of the same name. Given there’s a wealth of source material still to pull from, Wahlberg’s sequel can capitalize on some of the unadapted novels in Hunter’s series.
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The other major reason why now is a great time for aShootersequel is the recent rise in popularity of the subgenre informally known as “Dad Shows”.Prime Video’sReacherandJack Ryanare two of the most notable recent examples, and also share a history with Wahlberg’s action-thriller as novels being adapted for movies before becoming hit TV shows. While this could make a better argument for aShooterTV reboot, the fact that Wahlberg’s movie continues to be a hit 17 years later might be better proof a sequel could work.
A Shooter Follow-Up Could Also Redeem Wahlberg’s Sequel Curse
If a follow-up were to get off the ground forShooter, it could also provide Wahlberg the opportunity to break his sequel curse. At the time of writing, the two-time Oscar nominee has starred in four proper sequels, two of which were intheTransformersfranchise, as the narrative shifted away from the Witwicky family, and the others being the family comedyDaddy’s Homeand Seth MacFarlane’sTed. Despite the success of their original movies, the sequels all saw poor reviews from critics, and varying returns at the box office. See how Wahlberg’s prior sequels have performed on Rotten Tomatoes and at the box office below:
18%
50%
44%
16%
43%
21%
51%
$180.6 Million
Even beyond the titles listed above, Wahlberg has had a variety of sequels either languish in development hell or find themselves shelved completely after their original movies underperformed. 2008’sMax Paynewas memorably meant to kick off a franchise with its post-credits scene, while2018’sMile 22had plansfor both a potential trilogy and TV spinoff. Though the former video game adaptation was a box office success, it was met with near-universal disdain from critics and audiences, while the latter also ended up scoring negative reviews and barely recouping its production budget.
To Wahlberg’s credit, he does have a few sequels in development for some recent successes, including Netflix’sSpenser Confidential, which was a streaming hit, andtheUnchartedvideo game adaptation, whose sequel is still in the works. While either film could help the star break this sequel curse by improving on their predecessors, the strong fanbase already behindShooterand its continued streaming popularity proves that a follow-up to it may be the ultimate way for Wahlberg to prove himself a worthy sequel star.
Shooter
Cast
Shooter is an action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua. Mark Wahlberg stars as Bob Lee Swagger, a retired Marine sniper who is wrongfully accused of attempting to assassinate the President. Forced to flee, Swagger must use his skills to uncover the real culprits and clear his name. Michael Peña, Danny Glover, and Kate Mara join the cast in this intense narrative of betrayal and survival.
