Las Vegas’ latest Hollywood transplant may be its most transformative. Movie star Mark Wahlberg, who in August purchased a two-story Las Vegas mansion for $14.5M, said he hopes to remake his new hometown into “Hollywood 2.0,” complete with a major motion-picture studio.
Many Hollywood A-listers have called Las Vegas home over the decades. So far, all have done so in relative quiet, relishing the break from TMZ cameras to raise families or enjoy retirement or semi-retirement in seclusion.
The current crop — which includes Nicolas Cage, Carlos Santana and Nick Carter — follows in the footsteps of Jerry Lewis, Tony Curtis and Redd Foxx. It’s not unusual to spot one of them out for dinner or shopping. But you’ll never see them on the Las Vegas Strip unless they’re working.
The new kid on the block seems to want to break with that tradition. Speaking on an internet talk show called “Lights, Camera, Vegas,” Wahlberg told host Rachel Smith: “I live in Nevada. I plan on making, hopefully, a film studio … in Nevada. We want to create a lot of jobs, and a lot of excitement. Hollywood 2.0.” Wahlberg, who owns a piece of sneaker resale marketplace StockX, also mentioned building a shoe factory.
The former Marky Mark has the capital to make all those dreams a reality. According to parade.com, he’s worth a whopping $400M.
In addition to his $14.5M estate in The Summit Club, Wahlberg also recently paid $15.6M for a vacant 2.5 acres this summer in the same ritzy Summerlin community. It’s around the corner from the estate of singer Celine Dion.
Not Leaving Las Vegas
When Wahlberg called Vegas “my hometown,” he apparently meant it. The Oscar nominee’s mega-mansion in the Los Angeles enclave of Beverly Park is listed at $87.5M, according to the Los Angeles Times.
More than one of Wahlberg’s kids now reportedly attend Bishop Gorman High School, a $15k-a-year private Catholic school near Summerlin, which explains the “Bishop Gorman!” football cheer during the internet chat. (Wahlberg and his wife, model Rhea Durham, reportedly have four children, aged 18, 16, 14 and 12.)
“I already went to their first game,” Wahlberg said during the interview, granted to promote Me Time, a new Netflix comedy movie co-starring Wahlberg and Kevin Hart.
The seed to relocate appears to have already been planted by the time Wahlberg opened a Wahlburger’s in March 2017 at the Grand Bazaar Shops at Bally’s (now the Horseshoe) on the Strip. (Wahlberg owns the fast-food chain with his brothers Donnie and Paul. The business spawned a reality series that ran from 2014-19 on A&E.)
“Las Vegas is the entertainment mecca of the world and it just continues to grow,” Wahlberg told the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the opening. “This is a place we have always wanted to be, from early on.”
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