Mark Wahlberg, appearing on Laura Ingraham’s “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News Channel to speak with guest host Raymond Arroyo, explained that not only does he see his career success as having come from the grace of God, but that he is working to help extract at least some of the movie industry from Hollywood and move it to his new home of Las Vegas.
That came later in the interview, after the two discussed Wahlberg’s faith and how he has helped introduce others to Christianity and praying through the Hallow app. After they had discussed faith and moved onto business, Arroyo asked, “I know you want to open a movie studio in your new home.” Wahlberg, interjecting, said, “Yes, Las Vegas.” Arroyo then asked, “How close is that to being away?”
Responding, Wahlberg told him that he thinks the plan is very close to coming to fruition and that the city sees the upside in diversifying away from just tourism and gambling and towards something that will create thousands of stable jobs well into the future.
He said, “I think we’re very close. I think they realize the economic upside. And you know, obviously, there’s so much reliance on gaming and tourism in Vegas and COVID when that shut down, the economy was decimated. You don’t want to create 10,000 jobs instantly want to create a vocational training. There’s so many talented people there.”
Continuing, he explained how he got out of Hollywood and what it is like being in the very different environment of Las Vegas. He said, “So when I moved there was just like, hey, you know, big fish in a small pond. That was just what we want to do. Like I immediately moved my movie family plan there. We shot our last movie, ‘Flight Risk.'”
He next explained how there is a large reservoir of talent in the Las Vegas area, which has many advantages of its own over California. He said, “And so there’s so many talented people there and we think so many other people will come you know, there’s affordable housing, wonderful schools, really faith great faith-based communities . . . And we found a great community wonderful people. And so we think it’s a it’s a no brainer.”
Watch Wahlberg here:
Also during the interview, Wahlberg discussed how streaming has impacted the movie business. That came when Arroyo asked, “How has streaming changed this business? I mean, you’re doing a lot more content that you weren’t before? Are you worried that it’s not reaching the audience that you want to reach?”
Responding, Wahlberg said, “You know what, I think it’s allowing you to reach an even bigger audience, but it’s on their timeline, you know, so they don’t have to immediately go into the theater on an opening weekend. Look, I’ve always loved the theatrical experience the most Arthur The King is being released in theaters on March 15. So it’s the only way you can see it and when it opens, but, you know, people choose when and where and how they want to consume their content.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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