Mark Wahlberg’s Forgotten ‘Reacher’ Predecessor Is Officially Hitting Netflix
Mark Wahlberg's 2018 action thriller "Mile 22" is now streaming on Netflix, having recently underperformed at the box office despite reuniting the star with frequent collaborator director Peter Berg. It was the fifth and final film the pair made together during the 2010s, following a run that spanned a sleeper hit, a costly flop and an early streaming original, and its arrival on Netflix gives it a fresh chance to find viewers who missed it in cinemas.
The film's Netflix debut fits a wider pattern dubbed "the Netflix effect", in which modestly received theatrical releases find new life and large audiences once added to the platform. Recent examples cited include Aaron Eckhart's "Chief of Station", the Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson drama "Ordinary Angels", and the Western "Old Henry", which holds a 94% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. Wahlberg has since become a prolific streaming star, reportedly commanding $20-25 million per role according to Forbes.
- Wahlberg and Berg's 2018 film "Mile 22" has landed on Netflix.
- It benefits from "the Netflix effect" boosting overlooked theatrical films.
- Wahlberg now commands $20-25 million per streaming role, per Forbes.
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Mile 22 is a 2018 action thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as a covert operative helping smuggle a foreign informant out of a hostile country, with the mission spiralling into a race against time. It was directed by Peter Berg, who had already made several films with Wahlberg that decade, including one big hit and one expensive box-office failure. The film had a mixed reception on its cinema release and has now been added to Netflix.
Its arrival on the streaming service is being viewed through the lens of what's sometimes called "the Netflix effect", where films that did only modestly well in cinemas go on to attract much larger audiences once they become easily accessible on a major platform. Other titles have reportedly seen similar boosts after joining Netflix, including a Western that was well reviewed by critics despite limited cinema exposure.
The story also touches on Wahlberg's more recent career, in which he has become known for taking on high-paying roles in streaming films, reportedly earning tens of millions of dollars per project. This context helps explain why a film from several years ago is newsworthy now, rather than being a story about a new release.