Flight Risk has ended a surprising 26-year streak for Mark Wahlberg and his action movies. The 2025 action-thriller directed by Mel Gibson put its star in an unusual role as the villain, as he played a killer posing as a pilot. Mark Wahlberg only played one villain before this movie, but he is no stranger to action movies. He’s used the genre to build his career in many ways. Whether it was franchises like Transformers or other standalone films, Wahlberg became a major action movie star throughout his career, balancing the comedic and true story roles he also frequently takes.

As a result of this career direction, Mark Wahlberg has often found great success at the box office in his action roles. Flight Risk was expected to continue that trend. While Flight Risk‘s box office started on a strong note, claiming the #1 spot at the box office, interest declined sharply. Its theatrical run domestically is practically over less than two months later. Flight Risk has made $43 million at the worldwide box office. That’s a low total for a Mark Wahlberg-led action movie, however you frame it. History backs that up, too, as it ends a major career trend.

Flight Risk Is Mark Wahlberg’s First Action Movie In 26 Years To Make Less Than $50 Million

He’s Consistently Blown Past That Mark In The Last Quarter Century

Flight Risk‘s declining theater count and dwindling box office hauls mean that the movie is destined to finish its theatrical run with a total under $50 million. That’s notable for Mark Wahlberg, as he hasn’t had an action movie make less than that total since 1999. Other movies of his have made less since then, but they were not of the action genre. His trend of action movies making over $50 million began in 1999 with Three Kings. The action war movie co-starring George Clooney, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze was Wahlberg’s biggest hit after making $107 million.

Three Kings was only the third action movie of Mark Wahlberg’s young career, following The Big Hit (1998) and The Corruptor (which came out a few months earlier in 1999). Since then, he’s made 17 additional action movies, including Flight Risk. The first 16 that followed Three Kings continued to exceed the $50 million box office milestone, with Patriots Day coming the closest to ending the streak by only making $52 million. Flight Risk is still $7 million behind the milestone, and it shouldn’t get past that benchmark at this point, thus ending Wahlberg’s $50 million action movie streak.

Mark Wahlberg & Mel Gibson Were Expected To Turn Flight Risk Into A Bigger Box Office Hit

So What Went Wrong?

Based on Mark Wahlberg’s track record alone, Flight Risk should have been a bigger box office hit. Mel Gibson’s history at the box office also indicated that the movie would be a sizable hit. Flight Risk broke Gibson’s streak of making movies that grossed over $100 million, which was true for the last 30 years. The combination of Wahlberg and Gibson should have made the action thriller a big hit, especially since it came out in January when there was a lack of compeтιтion. The $25 million budget even positioned Flight Risk to turn a profit even if it underperformed.

The film was far from a disaster at the box office and still gave Lionsgate some success. However, Flight Risk really should have made anywhere between $50 million to $100 million based on Wahlberg and Gibson’s track records. It even had the Wahlberg villain role hook to try and get more people interested. The fact that it didn’t continue Mark Wahlberg’s streak of action movies making at least $50 million at the box office is undoubtedly a surprise for all involved.