Mark Wahlberg Responds To Shooter’s Success On Streaming, Teases Potential Future Plans For Franchise Only4Media.com

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Summary

  • Shooter
    ‘s recent streaming success and Mark Wahlberg’s interest could lead to a sequel with Michael Peña and Antoine Fuqua.
  • There are 12 novels about Bob Lee Swagger, providing plenty of source material for potential sequels to
    Shooter.
  • Wahlberg references his connections at Paramount and admits a possible sequel would be cool.



Mark Wahlberg addresses the possibility of a sequel to Shooter. Wahlberg starred in the 2007 Antoine Fuqua-directed movie as Marine Scout Sniper Bob Lee Swagger, who is framed for an assassination attempt, and must unravel the sinister political conspiracy at the heart of this injustice. Despite being released 17 years ago, Shooter recently became a streaming hit on Paramount+, where it became one of the service’s top 10 performing films available on their platform.

While being interviewed by Screen Rant for his upcoming film The Union, Shooter‘s recent streaming success was addressed, and Wahlberg was asked whether he would ever return to the role of Swagger. While he did not confirm that any sequel is in the works, he discussed how recent changes at Paramount could help one come to fruition. He also shared the enthusiasm he still receives from fans regarding Shooter, along with expressing his own enthusiasm at the thought of reuniting with Fuqua and co-star Michael Peña. Check out Wahlberg’s comments below:


Well, I think my good friends over at Skydance just took over Paramount, so I think that’s a possibility. We got a pretty good library over there with, not only Shooter, with The Italian Job, even Four Brothers, The Fighter. And then other things that they have in the library that could be interesting to revisit, or revamp, but that one in particular. Yes. Anywhere I go for the last 20 years, people are always coming up to me about that movie.

They don’t always turn out the way you want. But that particular movie? If myself, Antoine Fuqua, and if they get Michael Peña back, that would be very cool.


A Shooter Franchise Has Plenty Of Source Material To Draw From

There Are Numerous Novels About Bob Lee Swagger


Shooter‘s enduring popularity, recent streaming success, the changes at Paramount, and Wahlberg’s interest are all promising signs of expanding the film into a larger franchise. In terms of story, potential sequels have a wealth of source material to draw from, as there are 12 novels about Swagger written by Stephen Hunter. Shooter‘s story was adapted from Hunter’s 1993 novel Point of Impact, which follows a similar story to the 2007 film of Swagger being enlisted by the government to help stop an assassination, only to be framed, and having to retaliate and defend himself against this corruption.


While Point of Impact has already been adapted, there are 11 other novels about Swagger that a sequel can be based on. This leaves plenty of story options for Wahlberg and Fuqua to explore in a sequel, and gives them an opportunity to even combine elements from the various novels. Prime Video’s Reacher, which is based on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher book series, has been enormously successful and has many parallels to the protagonist, story, and tone of Shooter, proving this template can work well.

There was a Shooter television series that aired for three seasons on the USA Network from 2016 to 2018, with Ryan Phillippe playing the role of Swagger, but it never achieved the same popularity as the movie. A movie sequel directed by Fuqua, with Wahlberg back as Swagger, Peña as FBI Special Agent Nick Memphis, and adapted from one of Hunter’s novels would be the ideal way to turn Swagger’s story into a cinematic franchise. There are enough promising signs for a Shooter sequel to be genuinely viable nearly 20 years later after the original’s theatrical release.


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