Mark Wahlberg Plays Balding, Psychotic Killer

The skies are a lot less friendly to fly with a balding, unhinged Mark Wahlberg in the pilot seat.

That’s the takeaway from the new trailer for “Flight Risk,” a thriller from Mel Gibson, who is exchanging the battlefields of Scotland (“Braveheart”) and the Pacific Theater (“Hacksaw Ridge”) for an in-flight face-off between Wahlberg’s psycho killer and Michelle Dockery’s FBI agent. She’s been tasked with escorting a government witness (Topher Grace) to trial; He’s got a contract to shoot the turncoat before he can sing. The two collide on a small plane that’s charting a course over the Alaskan wilderness.

Wahlberg is clearly having the time of his life as the follically challenged hitman, which is a departure from his typical heroic roles. Dockery, best known for her upper crust turn on “Downton Abbey,” is also playing against type. Lionsgate is releasing the movie on Jan. 24.  “Flight Risk” was written by Jared Rosenberg. 

Wahlberg and Gibson recently collaborated on “Father Stu,” a faith-based drama that hit theaters in 2022. Gibson, whose A-list career was derailed by a series of off-screen controversies, hasn’t directed a film since 2016’s “Hacksaw Ridge,” which earned him an Oscar nomination. He previously won an Academy Award for “Braveheart” and also oversaw “Apocalypto” and “The Passion of the Christ.” He’s planning to make a follow-up to the religious epic.

Wahlberg was last seen in Netflix’s “The Union,” a spy comedy that co-starred Halle Berry. Dockery appeared in “Here” alongside Tom Hanks and Robin Wright. And Grace appeared in the well-received horror film, “Heretic.”