A Mark Wahlberg Remake Is Leaving Netflix Soon
The Mark Wahlberg remake heist movie, The Italian Job, is set to leave Netflix soon.
This article is more than 2 years old
Only a few days remain before Netflix removes a popular Mark Wahlberg-led film from their streaming platform. On November 30, The Italian Job, starring Wahlberg, Donald Sutherland, and Edward Norton, will be leaving the popular streaming service.
The 2003 Mark Wahlberg film is a remake of a 1969 British film, also titled The Italian Job. Though both films are heist movies, that is where the similarities end. The Whalberg remake is more of an homage to the original film than an actual remake of the original story. While the 1969 film is an action-comedy and crime thriller, the remake leans more towards action-thriller than comedy.
1969’s The Italian Job stars Michael Caine, Noël Coward, and Benny Hill and is a comedic caper about a crew determined to steal a gold shipment by using the distraction of a traffic jam, which is sort of what happens in the Mark Wahlberg remake.
The 2003 remake focuses on new characters and a darker plot. Mark Wahlberg plays the main protagonist, Charlie Croker, who has been left for dead by his former ally. After a heist goes wrong, Croker’s partner, Steve (Edward Norton), betrays his team in order to keep the gold they stole for himself. Croker leads the team of thieves in a revenge plot against Steve to recover the stolen gold.
Croker’s (Mark Wahlberg) team is played by an all-star cast, including Jason Statham as Handsom Rob, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def) as Left Ear, and Seth Green as Lyle. Like most heist movies, each player has their own special talent. Croker is the leader, Handsom Rob is the driver, Left Ear plays with explosives, and Lyle is the tech guy. The team also enlists Stella Bridger (Charlize Theron), the daughter of John Bridger (Donald Sutherland), a team member killed by Steve.
A script for the remake was presented to Paramount by writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, but the studio rejected it. Liking the concept, however, Paramount hired screenwriting team Donna and Wayne Powers to rewrite the script. Powers and Powers had never seen the original movie before being solicited, and they watched it only once before taking on the assignment. The studio loved their version of the script for the movie that would eventually star Mark Wahlberg, though it wasn’t a technical remake of the original film and was simply inspired by the tone of the 1969 movie.
The Italian Job was directed by F. Gary Grey, who would later go on to direct films like Straight Outta Compton, the eighth film in the Fast and the Furious saga, The Fate of the Furious, and the fourth installment of the Men in Black series, Men in Back: International. We could see Mark Wahlberg in all those movies.
Grey wanted The Italian Job to be as realistic as possible, so Mark Whalberg and many of the other actors did their own stunts while filming, and very little CGI was used. The Italian Job was Paramount’s most successful film in 2003 and grossed the studio $176.1 million worldwide. Overall, the film was well-received by audiences and critics alike and was praised for being highly entertaining, despite a few unbelievable moments in the plot.
While the film was not nominated for an Academy Award, it still received several accolades. Grey won a Film Life Movie Award for Best Director at the American Black Film Festival in 2004, and several stuntmen won an award for best stunts at the 2004 Taurus World Stunt Awards for the boat chase scene in Venice. Despite Netflix giving up one of Mark Wahlberg’s best movies, the film will still be available to stream on Paramount Plus.
