Entertainment

Mark Wahlberg and Michelle Monaghan star in “The Family Plan 2,” streaming on Apple TV November 21.

By Kevin Slane

November 21, 2025 | 12:19 PM

6 minutes to read

Somewhere back in the 2010s, Mark Wahlberg entered his dad era.

The last decade of the Boston native’s career has been marked by playing either typical dads (“Daddy’s Home,” “Instant Family,” “Me Time”) or gritty heroes in real-life stories that studio executives consider catnip for America’s patriarchs, like “Deepwater Horizon” and “Patriots Day.”

Then there was Apple TV’s 2023 movie “The Family Plan,” which provided Wahlberg the best of both worlds.

Wahlberg played Dan Morgan, a boring suburban dad who is hiding a former career as a high-level assassin from his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and kids (Zoe Colletti, Van Crosby). The film was a hit for Apple TV, and the studio quickly greenlit a sequel that sends the family across the pond.

“The Family Plan 2” is a sneaky holiday movie, a la “Die Hard.” With his daughter studying abroad and not planning to come home for the holidays, Dan decides to fly the rest of the Morgan clan to London to surprise her. The real surprise, however, arrives in the form of a foe from Dan’s past played by Kit Harrington (“Game of Thrones”), putting the whole Morgan clan in jeopardy.

Apple clearly appreciates being in the Mark Wahlberg business. Along with the two “Family Plan” films, the studio is releasing “Weekend Warriors,” an upcoming collaboration between Wahlberg and LeBron James filmed in the Boston area over the last three months.

Directed by Stephen Chbosky (“Wonder”), “Weekend Warriors” is about a father (Wahlberg) and his son, who is on the autism spectrum, traveling around North America to watch every NBA team until the child finds his favorite one.

The film is being co-produced by SpringHill, the production company founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter in 2020, and was given what Wahlberg calls “unprecedented” access to the NBA during production, including the Celtics.

Ahead of “The Family Plan 2″ arriving on Apple TV November 21, Wahlberg and Monaghan spoke to Boston.com about their experience filming “Patriots Day,” why Wahlberg’s son ended up not joining the cast of the movie, and shared more details about “Weekend Warriors.”

Boston.com: “The Family Plan” was a big success for Apple. Beyond that, what drew you making a sequel, and to revisiting this type of movie in general?

Mark Wahlberg: We both are big, big family people. Michelle, obviously married with two kids, I’m married with four kids. To be able to make a movie that everybody can enjoy and be able to capture the right tone to reach audiences all over the world, it’s not an easy thing to do. But we we loved working together, and we love the idea of bringing the Morgans back one more time.

Michelle Monaghan: We were so proud that we made a movie that resonated with so many people globally. The opportunity to be able to do a second one, and continue to explore the themes that were so prevalent in the first but getting to do it abroad, and being able to take audiences on an adventure that they could vicariously live through The Morgans, it just felt really special.

You worked together in “Patriots Day.” Was that the first time you had crossed paths?

Monaghan: That was the first time we’d ever met. And it was beautiful — that film, so beautiful. We love Pete Berg, and, of course, it was an important story to tell. We found out we work well together, and it was just a really nice, really lovely rapport that we developed, and a real respect for one another creatively. So I jumped at the chance to get the opportunity to work with Mark again — and again and again and again.

What made you want to go to London for this second film?

Wahlberg: I didn’t realize that London, especially during the holidays, was so festive. Every time I’ve worked in London, you get up, you drive from the hotel, it’s still dark outside for about an hour. You shoot for 12 hours. You come back, it’s still dark. You’re not seeing any of the city. This time, we shot at all these huge tourist attractions. And we were shooting on the weekend, so there were tourists out there, and it was like we were really getting to see and experience the city for the first time. It was quite an eye opening experience. I mean, I really fell in love with the city. 

The first film’s climax takes place in Las Vegas. If you had to pick one: London or Vegas?

Wahlberg: Well because my family is in Vegas, I would obviously want to be home. But, you know, my family came out to visit on the set, and we spent some time in Paris together, which was really nice.

Both of the “Family Plan” films make an effort to cater to a younger audience. Zoe Colletti has 10.6 million YouTube subscribers, and the first film is heavily focused on gaming and Esports. You both have kids, is that something they pushed you towards?

Wahlberg: No, we just cast people that we thought would be great in the role. I know that the studio has certain criteria and things that will pique audience interest, as far as like, followers and things of that nature. But we casted the kids that we liked and that we felt we would have chemistry with.

So your son isn’t watching gamers on Twitch all day?

Wahlberg: Well, my son’s a big gamer, and at one point he was talking about auditioning for the part. Then he realized the work involved he was like, “Nah, I don’t wanna do it.”

What I didn’t want to do was push him into something, because you know how many times I’d be dealing with him? Saying “Hey, we got to go” and [he’d be like] “I don’t want to do it today, Dad, this is stupid.” So I was glad when he said no. If and when he’s ready to act, I think he’s got serious talent. If and when he’s ready, he’ll go and pursue that. But you gotta be real serious about it.

You just spent three months in Boston filming another movie for Apple, “Weekend Warriors.” Can you talk more about that?

Wahlberg: It’s a remake of a German film based on a true story about a father and son. The father is a Teamster, like my dad. And there’s basically no real connection between them. My character is not really capable of dealing with the challenges that my son is facing. And then we decide [the son] wants to find his own basketball team, because myself and my wife and her family, everybody’s obsessed with basketball. In the original film, it was soccer. And then he devises a plan for them to travel all across the country to visit every NBA team in order to pick his favorite team. 

There’s a lot of challenges. I have to work around my work schedule, driving us to these events, and how we can afford tickets, things of that nature. [The son] can’t be around noise and people in crowds, so going to NBA stadiums, going to Philly to watch a Sixers game with all the chaos — you can imagine that lots of crazy things happen. But we really bond over this trip, and it’s a beautiful story.

From the sounds of that plot, you probably could have shot “Weekend Warriors” anywhere in the U.S. Was it your choice to pick Boston as the home base?

Wahlberg: That was actually [director] Stephen Chbosky who thought it would be great to root it there. He’s from Connecticut. In the movie, my wife, played by Vera Farmiga, is from New York, I’m from Boston, and we live in Connecticut. Boston is a big part of it, and obviously the Celtics are a big part of it. 

And LeBron James is a big part of it?

Wahlberg: LeBron James is one of the producers on the film, and we got unprecedented access to the NBA for the movie. All the game footage that was ever shot, every player that ever played in the NBA, it was pretty incredible.

“The Family Plan 2” is streaming on Apple TV.

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