Mark Wahlberg's Sequel To Action Movie With 80% Audience RT Score Can Replace Denzel Washington's $573M Franchise (2024)

Mark Wahlberg has suggested that Shooter sequel could happen, and it would replace one of Denzel Washington's franchises if his conditions are met. It's been 17 years since Wahlberg starred as Bob Lee Swagger in Antoine Fuqua's Shooter. The action movie had a mixed reception earning 48% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 80% from audiences while grossing $95 million at the box office off a $61 million budget. That performance kept any chance of Shooter 2 happening right away much lower, but Shooter's popularity on streaming and cable has potentially changed the future.

The renewed success of the film is why the possibility of Mark Wahlberg starring in a Shooter sequel has become greater in recent years. Wahlberg is now open to the possibility as long as a few conditions are met. He mentioned wanting to make the movie with Paramount and Skydance specifically if it brings back Antoine Fuqua as the director and Michael Peña as Nick Memphis. Although Shooter 2 is not yet officially in development, Wahlberg's optimism about it happening is encouraging. And it could mean Shooter replaces Denzel Washington's biggest franchise in a way.

Shooter 2 Could Give Antoine Fuqua An Equalizer Replacement After Ending Denzel's Franchise

Fuqua Directed All 3 Equalizer Movies

Mark Wahlberg's condition of wanting Antoine Fuqua back to direct Shooter 2 means this could become the director's new main action franchise. Wahlberg and Fuqua have worked together since Shooter on 2 Guns, which co-starred Denzel Washington. It was immediately afterward that Fuqua and Washington embarked on a new journey together without Wahlberg. They went on to make The Equalizer in 2014, which launched an action trilogy starring Denzel that proved to be quite successful.

Fuqua and Washington lost the Equalizer franchise with The Equalizer 3 ending the franchise upon its release in 2023. While the two are still scheduled to work together in the future, Fuqua does not have another action franchise lined up at the moment. Shooter 2 could be making progress at the perfect time then. Reteaming with Wahlberg to make a sequel to Shooter after all these years could be just what Fuqua needs to fill the hole he's left with now that The Equalizer 4 is not on the horizon.

Shooter 2 Can Be A Bigger Hit For Mark Wahlberg & Antoine Fuqua Now

It might seem like a risky bet on Paramount's part to make Shooter 2 after so much time has passed and considering the mediocre performance of the original movie. However, there is also a chance that the sequel would be much bigger than the first installment. Mark Wahlberg is a much bigger star nowadays, including on the action front, so that could be enough to help turn Shooter 2 into a box office hit if the budget is kept within a reasonable range. Marketing it as coming from the director of the Equalizer trilogy could boost audiences' interest too.

Fuqua proved with the Equalizer movies that he can make action movies that do well at the box office. Each entry made over $190 million worldwide, which is twice as much as Shooter made in 2007. It would not be unreasonable to think that Shooter 2 could match the performance of the Equalizer movies and successfully revitalize Mark Wahlberg's action franchise.

shooter

3.0

pg-13

Action

Thriller

Director

Antoine Fuqua

Release Date

March 23, 2007

Writers

Antoine Fuqua

Cast

Mark Wahlberg , Kate Mara , Danny Glover , Antoine Fuqua

Runtime

126minutes