The original actor cast inShooterwould have resulted in a VERY different film than the 2007 Mark Wahlberg flick. Since transitioning from rapper to actor, Wahlberg has appeared in everything from wacky family comedies to sci-fi blockbusters and intense dramas. Still,Mark Wahlberg action moviesare a genre unto themselves and have given the star some of his biggest hits. This includesFour Brothers, his twoTransformersoutings and 2007’sShooter, which has become a streaming hit on Netflix.
This thriller was based on the novelPoint of Impactby author Stephen Hunter and cast Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, a retired marine sniper. After being framed for an assassination, Swagger goes on the run to clear his name; this involves many gunfights and car chases too. ThisAntoine Fuqua moviewas a modest success upon release and later spawned a TV series starring Ryan Phillippe.
Shooter spent many years in development hell
Had Tommy Lee Jones' The Hunted been a bigger success, William Friedkin talked about retrofittingShooter into a potential sequel.
According to theLos Angeles Times,Shooterspent a solid 12 years in development before it became the Walhberg movie. This involved paring the novel down to movie size, with writers like the legendary William Goldman (The Princess Bride) or John Lee Hancock (The Founder) trying to crack it. Before this,the late, greatWilliam Friedkin was set to directShooterwith Tommy Lee Jones playing Swagger. A delay on the adaptation saw the duo move onto 2003’sThe Huntedinstead.
Had this film been a bigger success, Friedkin toldIGNof his plans to retrofitShooterinto a potential sequel. This didn’t come to pass, withThe Huntedonlygrossing $46 million worldwide on an estimated $55 million production budget (viaBox Office Mojo).The Hunteditself could be described asFirst BloodmeetsThe Fugitive, with Jones again playing the pursuer of a soldier he trained (played by Benicio del Toro) who goes on a killing spree. The difference is that Jones' Bonham is the total opposite of his Sam Gerard character inTheFugitive.
It’s also hard to picture Jones in theShootermovie that did get made. Presumably,Friedkin was envisioning a more cerebral, less action-intensive take on the material, with Jones' Swagger being a more internal, anti-social figure. In short, it’s a very different movie, but considering Friedkin directedThe French ConnectionandTo Live and Die in L.A., it sounds like it could have been something special.
Tommy Lee Jones also worked with William Friedkin in the 2000 legal dramaRules of Engagement.
Jones Channeled His Take On Shooter’s Swagger Into The Hunted
The Hunted is as close to Tommy Lee Jones' Shooter as the world will ever get
Friedkin noted in the aforementionedIGNchat thatJones recycled his planned portrayal of Swagger forThe Hunted. While his character Bonham is shown to be a proficient killer with incredible hunting skills, he is also incredibly uncomfortable in regular society. This is best seen after del Toro’s character is (briefly) captured, where Bonham can barely look Connie Nielsen’s FBI agent in the eye or form coherent sentences when she attempts small talk.
Mark Wahlberg was almost cast as the younger version of Tommy Lee Jones' Agent K inMen in Black 3, but director Barry Sonnenfeld preferred Josh Brolin for the role.
This would make sense sincebothShooter’sSwagger andThe Hunted’sBonham spent years isolating themselves from society and avoiding their pasts. Wahlberg’s take on Swagger is still surprisingly chatty for all his years of hiding away and paranoid tendencies. Of course, Jones' take would be more alienating for a mainstream audience, so a studio might have insisted on the character being less of an introvert had the film entered production.
Readers of the Bob Lee Swagger series weren’t picturing Mark Wahlberg
Wahlberg was in his late 30s when he signed on toShooter, but inPoint of Impact, Swagger is a Vietnam vet who is closer to 50in age. That’s why many of the casting suggestions for the adaptation involved actors like Robert Redford or Clint Eastwood, with Swagger’s Vietnam backstory featuring heavily in the narrative. Tommy Lee Jones was born in 1946 too, making him the same age as Swagger in the novels, and he would have been nearing 60 if the Friedkin version ofShooterhad gone ahead.
It’s interesting to note thatinthe span of five years the project went from a veteran star like Jones to a younger actor like Wahlberg. By all accounts, it was Wahlberg’s pursuit of the project that saw it get a greenlight, while most of the book’s subplots were dumped to streamline the script. This also would have made building a Bob Lee Swagger franchise easier, since Wahlberg’s age would have given the studio more of a window to develop follow-ups.
Shooter 2: Should a Sequel With Mark Wahlberg Still Happen?
With Shooter recently trending on streaming, is it finally time for a sequel to the action movie starring Mark Wahlberg?
GivenShooter’srenewed success on Netflix, it would be ironic if a follow-up happened that played into Wahlberg’s age. In fact, the star would be the perfect age to play a more book-accurate Swagger. WithThe UnionandUncharted, Wahlberg hasn’t slowed down when it comes to more physical roles. It appearsShooterwasn’t enough of a success in 2007 to push ahead with a sequel, but a straight-to-streaming follow-up now would be sure to generate interest.
The Fugitive
Cast
After being falsely accused of killing his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble goes on the run to find the real killer while a seasoned US Marshal hunts him down. The Fugitive stars Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble and Tommy Lee Jones as Samuel Gerard and was directed by Andrew Davis.
… the Tommy Lee Jones version ofShooterwould have flipped hisFugitivecasting completely.
The movie that made Tommy Lee Jones a true movie star wasThe Fugitive, with his unforgettable turn as the determined U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard earning him an Academy Award. His performance was so compelling it was decided to spin off his character withU.S. Marshals, where Sam and his team chase a new fugitive played by Wesley Snipes. Sadly, this pseudo-sequel is something of a bore that fared badly when compared toThe Fugitive, with co-starRobert Downey Jr dubbingU.S. Marshals"the worst action movie ever made."
What would have been cool about the Tommy Lee Jones version ofShooteris it would have flipped hisFugitivecasting completely. It would have beenhischaracter on the run, and forced to clear his name by uncovering a conspiracy. This may have been why he was approached about the project too. While it may have been Friedkin’s rough plan,it’s tough to see how Jones’Huntedcharacter would work in aShootersequel. For one, the 2003 film makes no mention of Bonham having been a sniper, let alone one of the best in the world.
Bonham is depicted as a knife fighter and survival expert, but never even holds a gun throughoutThe Hunted. It would have taken a sizable retcon to merge Swagger’s story with Bonham’s, so if the director and star had worked onShooter,it likely would have had no connections withThe Hunted. The box office disappointment of the latter no doubt killed plans for Friedkin’sShooterand the world was denied aFugitiveriff with Tommy Lee Jones on the run.
Shooter
Shooter is an action thriller directed by Antoine Fuqua. Mark Wahlberg stars as Bob Lee Swagger, a retired Marine sniper who is wrongfully accused of attempting to assassinate the President. Forced to flee, Swagger must use his skills to uncover the real culprits and clear his name. Michael Peña, Danny Glover, and Kate Mara join the cast in this intense narrative of betrayal and survival.
