Mark Wahlberg’s films have mostly been successful, but the 52-year-old actor has also had several flops in his career. The Happening is one of Wahlberg’s most talked-about flicks. The film was released on June 13, 2008. Zooey Deschanel was cast as the female lead in the film, playing Alma Moore.
People had high hopes for the story of the film, but many people were disappointed when it was released. Reportedly, after receiving a dull response from fans, the Joe Bell actor also regretted doing the film.
Mark Wahlberg said The Happening was a bad movie
Although the movie The Happening had a great star cast but somewhere the storyline and other aspects of the movie couldn’t impress the audiences. The Happening was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Many people think this movie was Shyamalan’s one of the worst movies. Mark Wahlberg also received a lot of flak for not choosing his script wisely. During an interview, the 52-year-old actor said,
“We had actually had the luxury of having lunch before to talk about another movie and it was a bad movie that I did. She dodged the bullet. And then I was still able to … I don’t want to tell you what movie … alright “The Happening.” F*ck it. It is what it is. F*cking trees, man. The plants. F*ck it.”
He further added,
“You can’t blame me for not wanting to try to play a science teacher. At least I wasn’t playing a cop or a crook.”
The film grossed $64,506,874 at the domestic box office and $98,271,510 at the overseas box office. The film earned $163 million worldwide. People admired Wahlberg’s candor when he admitted that the film was bad.
The Director of The Happening explained why the movie was a big flop
When Shyamalan was promoting his film Glass in 2019, the director was questioned about how he felt when the Fear actor called his movie a bad movie. Responding to this question, the 52-year-old director said “It’s totally his call. However, he wants to interpret it.” Many people thought Shyamalan was offended by Wahlberg for being blatant about the movie.
The Old film director also explained in the same interview why he thinks his film failed to impress the audience even when he had the best star cast. While talking about the movie The Happening, Shyamalan said,
“I think it’s a consistent kind of farce humor. You know, like ‘The Blob.’ The key to ‘The Blob’ is that it just never takes itself that seriously.”
Shyamalan was also asked if the viewers missed seeing what he wanted to show them, responding to this question, the director said,
“I think I was inconsistent. That’s why they couldn’t see it. You need to be in a good place.”
According to Shyamalan, the film’s failure was not his fault. People were unsure whether to take the film seriously or jokingly, which had a detrimental impact on the film.
Source: Indie Wire; Collider
