Mark Wahlberg’s Military Action Movie With 48% RT Score Becomes Streaming Hit 17 Years Later

With nearly 20 years gone since it first hit theaters, Shooter is climbing the Paramount+ charts. The Mark Wahlberg-led movie served as an adaptation of Stephen Hunter’s Point 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, Shooter was 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.

Collider is now reporting that, 17 years after its release, Shooter is 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’s IF, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher, South Park: The End of Obesity, PAW Patrol: The Movie, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Top 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’s Shooter may 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 other major military action movie, Lone Survivor, with Shooter still 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 a Shooter sequel to be considered with Wahlberg reprising his role. Point of Impact was 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.

The other major reason why now is a great time for a Shooter sequel is the recent rise in popularity of the subgenre informally known as “Dad Shows”. Prime Video’s Reacher and Jack Ryan are 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 a Shooter TV reboot, the fact that Wahlberg’s movie continues to be a hit 17 years later might be better proof a sequel could work.

Source: Collider

shooter

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Shooter is an Antoine Fuqua-directed film starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Mara, and Danny Glover. In this 2007 action thriller, former Marine Scout Sniper Bob Lee Swagger (Wahlberg) must prove his innocence after he is framed for murder. The film was later adapted into a TV series on USA that lasted for three seasons.

Director

Antoine Fuqua

Release Date

March 23, 2007

Studio(s)

Paramount Pictures

Distributor(s)

Paramount Pictures

Writers

Antoine Fuqua

Runtime

126minutes

Budget

$61million

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