Mark Wahlberg & Mel Gibson's 2025 Action Thriller Is Officially Being Cut From Streaming This Month

Published Nov 10, 2026, 9:00 PM EST

Katrina joined ScreenRant as a news writer in 2024, covering box office, expert interviews, exclusives, and new releases. Her work has appeared in CBR, All About Jazz, Rising Artists, and numerous other publications. She has an MFA in Creative Writing and has published more than 20 books. She currently writes for ScreenRant’s movie features team. 

Known for starring in and directing the Oscar-winning epic historical war drama, Mel Gibson has directed six feature-length movies so far and starred in more than 60 movies. Having worked with many actors throughout his career, Mark Wahlberg is one of the few people the actor-director has worked with repeatedly across different projects.

Gibson and Wahlberg's creative partnership began when they starred as father and son in a holiday comedy in 2017. Since then, they've developed a close professional and personal friendship rooted in mutual admiration.

The two appeared as estranged father and son again in a 2022 faith-based movie before teaming up again in a 2025 thriller, but this time, their roles are slightly different.

The Braveheart director helmed the 2025 action thriller Flight Risk and cast Wahlberg as the antagonist, the only other time the Ted actor played a full-on villain since his breakout role as David McCall in the 1996 psychological thriller Fear. While Flight Risk didn't do very well at the box office, it occupies a special place in the actor's discovery.

Mark Wahlberg Transformed For Mel Gibson's Flight Risk

Image via Lionsgate

Mark Wahlberg rarely steps into a full villainous role. Having primarily built his career playing working-class heroes and lovable protagonists, there are only a few times the actor plays an antagonist. In Flight Risk, Wahlberg transforms into a smooth-talking hitman under the disguise of a chatty, harmless pilot from Texas.

Set against the backdrop of the Alaskan wilderness, the Mel Gibson action thriller stars Michelle Dockery as a U.S. Marshal who accompanies Topher Grace's fugitive to trial. Wahlberg plays the pilot, Daryl Booth, who turns out to be a diabolical killer.

Wahlberg is terrifying without a single gory scene. He went all in to make his hitman as creepy and diabolical as possible. In an interview with People, the actor shared that he shaved his head for the role for real: "There was no bald cap. I shaved the middle and left the horseshoe around the sides. We just shaved it."

During the 22 days of filming, Wahlberg stayed in character entirely on set and even apologized to the crew after production wrapped because he wasn't able to engage with them much off camera.

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Flight Risk Underperformed With Critics & At The Box Office

Image via Lionsgate

Despite The Departed actor's rare and brilliant performance, the Mel Gibson action movie didn't do well at the box office. While it debuted at No. 1 at the US box office during its opening weekend, the movie only made $48.7 million worldwide against a $25 million production budget, which barely covered theatrical distribution and marketing costs after theater cuts.

The movie also failed to win over the majority of critics with only a 28% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw admitted that "the film is, of course, very silly, but diverting and ingenious, and contains game performances from Wahlberg, Dockery, and Grace." While Variety's Todd Gilchrist pointed out that the movie lacks the personality of a Mel Gibson movie.

ScreenRant's review of Flight Risk further argued that "the terrible script and boring direction are what define the entire project" and "even the fight sequences fall flat."

Why Flight Risk Is Still Worth Watching

Flight Risk may not have been well liked among film critics, but the movie is certainly considered a worthwhile watch by the majority of viewers. At the time of writing, the Mel Gibson action flick holds a 62% RT score among audiences, with many highlighting Mark Wahlberg's performance and its 90s throwback feel.

As an action thriller with only a 91-minute runtime, the movie has just enough memorable scenes and plot twists to make it an entertaining watch. While some plot points, such as the reveal of the mole in the U.S. Marshals, are slightly predictable, they don't affect the viewer's ability to enjoy the movie in its best moments.

It's worth pointing out that Flight Risk takes place almost entirely on a small aircraft. With no pilot, only a U.S. Marshal, a hitman, and a fugitive, the claustrophobic setting creates a particularly intriguing case for action fans.

Choose the movie with the higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Flight Risk Is Leaving Streaming Soon

Image via Lionsgate

The action thriller arrived on HBO Max in November last year. After having stayed on the platform for a year, it's scheduled to leave HBO on November 24 as its standard one-year streaming licensing window expires, per What Is Leaving. Following its predecessors' footsteps, the movie will enter its digital rental and purchase stage before eventually finding a streaming home.

This means the window to watch Flight Risk on HBO Max is closing, and those with a subscription who are interested in seeing Wahlberg as a full-on villain only have until November 23 to watch the movie.

What's Next For Mark Wahlberg & Mel Gibson?

Image via Paramount Pictures

Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson have worked on three movies in total so far. They first worked together as co-stars on the 2017 holiday comedy, Daddy's Home 2. Gibson played a hyper-macho man, Kurt Mayron, the father of Wahlberg's character, Dusty Mayron.

The duo played on-screen father and son again in their 2022 biographical drama Father Stu. Wahlberg also produced the film. Flight Risk marked the third time the two worked together and the first time Gibson directed the Ted actor.

Gibson is in post-production on The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One, scheduled to come out on March 26, 2027, with Part Two coming to theaters in 2028. He's also set to direct Lethal Weapon 5, which serves as the final installment of the franchise.

Wahlberg recently played a gang member in the historical crime thriller By All Means. The movie came out in September and holds a strong 88% RT score from viewers. The actor is set to appear in Netflix's thriller The Big Fix alongside Riz Ahmed. Directed by Baltasar Kormákur, the movie is currently in post-production.

At the time of writing, the duo isn't working on a project with each other, but they have both expressed interest in working together again if the right script comes along.

Sources: What Is Leaving, The Guardian, Variety