Mark Wahlberg's 2014 crime drama *The Gambler* is finding renewed attention on Paramount+, twelve years after its cinema release. The film, directed by Rupert Wyatt and written by Oscar-winning *The Departed* screenwriter William Monahan, gives Wahlberg one of his more distinctive roles and continues a broader pattern of his theatrical films gaining a second life through streaming rather than in cinemas.

Unlike fellow action stars Jason Statham and Gerard Butler, who have never headlined a streaming original, Wahlberg has leaned heavily into streaming over the past decade, appearing in three Netflix originals, two each for Prime Video and Apple TV, and one for Paramount+. Several of his older theatrical releases have also thrived on streaming, including *Mile 22* on Netflix and *Contraband* and *Shooter*, while *The Gambler* notably was originally developed with *The Departed* collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese attached before Wahlberg and Wyatt took over.