Mark Wahlberg Cashed In Big This Year—and Now Rules Streaming
Mark Wahlberg is printing money: the Flight Risk star raked in an estimated $60 million this year, says Forbes, as his straight-to-streaming hustle keeps delivering A-list paydays.
Mark Wahlberg has quietly turned into streaming catnip. While some old-school tentpoles are wheezing at the box office, he is making big money and pulling big audiences from the couch. Forbes pegs his 2025 haul at around $60 million, and on streamers like Apple TV+ and Prime Video he reportedly commands $20–25 million per movie. Not bad for a guy who has basically turned straight-to-streaming into a business model.
The numbers behind the flex
Since 2020, Wahlberg has rolled out seven direct-to-streaming projects across the major players — Apple TV+, Prime Video, Netflix, Paramount+, the works. Parrot Analytics estimates those movies have collectively generated about $680 million in global streaming revenue. Forbes even slapped a label on him: the King of Streaming.
"The biggest star in streaming is Mark Wahlberg. Without a doubt on the movie side. There is no question, just go look at all his movies."
That is from his longtime agent Ari Emanuel, and while agents hype for a living, the receipts kind of back him up.
2025: Two new Wahlbergs, two very different vibes
Play Dirty (Prime Video)
Shane Black is back in the heist-action pocket, adapting Donald E. Westlake's Parker novels (written under the Richard Stark pen name). The movie sprinted out as the No. 1 film across all streaming platforms when it dropped on Prime Video — a flex that is louder than its reviews.
Details, because I know you will ask: Mark Wahlberg stars with LaKeith Stanfield, Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, Chukwudi Iwuji, Nat Wolff, Gretchen Mol, Thomas Jane, and Tony Shalhoub. It runs 2 hours 8 minutes, clocks a 5.9/10 on IMDb, and sits at 43% on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Family Plan 2 (Apple TV+)
This is the sequel to 2023's suburban-spy comedy, back with Simon Cellan Jones directing and David Coggeshall writing. The critical scores? Rough. But per FlixPatrol, it still landed at No. 1 on Apple TV+ the moment it hit — which tells you exactly where Wahlberg's audience is living right now.
Stats: 1 hour 47 minutes. Cast includes Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Monaghan, Zoe Colletti, Van Crosby, and Kit Harington. IMDb is at 5.6/10; Rotten Tomatoes is 35%.
The theatrical slump — and why streaming suits him
Yes, Flight Risk face-planted in theaters. And yes, Wahlberg's only real big-screen win in the 2020s has been Uncharted. The rest? Critics shrugged, and audiences mostly stayed home.
- Arthur the King
- Father Stu
- Joe Bell
- Scoob!
But once those titles slide onto streaming, Wahlberg turns into a chart magnet. Flight Risk quickly found altitude on home platforms. Shooter even popped back into the Paramount+ Top 10 in November 2025, nearly two decades after it came out (per Collider). Meanwhile, star-driven theatrical swings in 2025 like Dwayne Johnson's The Smashing Machine and Glen Powell's The Running Man did not meet expectations. The trend line is not subtle.
The takeaway
Wahlberg leaned into the algorithm era before a lot of his peers, and it is paying off. He is prolific, reliably clickable, and the platforms are paying premium rates to keep him that way. He also has more films on deck, so expect the streak to continue.
Where to watch
The Family Plan 2 is streaming on Apple TV+ in the U.S.
Play Dirty is streaming on Prime Video in the U.S.
Flight Risk is streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max) in the U.S.