By Jonathan Bilski
Oh, yeah, this is real.
If you were scrolling last month and started laughing at the above picture, revealing a bald Mark Whalberg, then, I might have some answers for you. I too started laughing and wondered if it was real. I mean it looks like a meme you missed online. Why is him being bald going so hard on this transparent cover? Sure enough, I found it to be real and ready for pre-order as an exclusive steel-book on Amazon. You can pre-order it here.
Now, you might be asking wtf is Flight Risk? And, why is Mark Whalberg bald on the cover?
It gets weird right away, because I'm telling you it's the latest film from Mel Gibson. Yes, Mel Gibson. He hasn't made a movie since 2016 and that was Hacksaw Ridge with 6 Oscar nominations. Gibson got Michelle Dockery from Downtown Abbey and Topher Grace from That 70's Show in his action thriller about a U.S. Marshall ( Michelle) taking in an informant (Topher) on small airplane over the Alaskan wilderness. Dramatic entrance, Mark Whalberg as the pilot. And a reveal at some point that he is in fact bald. How does this lack of hair impact the story, not very much, but it is hilarious.
On that note, the film is classified as an action thriller, but it's also a comedy. I don't care if some higher up doesn't accept it as such. This special cover would make me think the folks at the studio behind it are cool with it being seen as part comedy. And, though mostly played straight (?) too much happens that's just so ridiculous, that it has to be a comedy. I'm unsure if Mel Gibson know how funny it is and maybe tried to make a straight action thriller, but I laughed way too much.
There's a very horny flight instructor.
Hassan, you horn-dog, son-of-a-bitch. Made me and my friends laugh so much.
Without ruining the plot, (don't watch a trailer) I highly suggest getting this 4K Blu-ray or getting it on digital.
to the artist behind the cover, Justin Erickson. Justin Erickson is from none other than, Phantom City Creative, who have done countless posters and art for television, films and games over the years. We've probably featured them in one way or another on this site hundreds of times without even knowing. Justin serves as Creative Director and is a Co-founder of Phantom City Creative.
Justin was nice enough to answer my questions about the cover design below and how it came to be. My questions are highlighted in blue, Justin's words are in black.
I just love the cover, I believe I first spotted it on X earlier last month. Where'd the idea come from? The Whalberg is bald reveal? Was there quite a process to get it done? Like, make sure the dimensions of the hat fit. Dealing with Mr. Whalberg's face being up to snuff, legally with special contracts? Lawyers might be you can make him bald, but not ugly.
First off, thanks so much for the kind words! The SteelBook®/Blu-ray™ covers have been so much fun
to do. I’ve been working with Lionsgate on special edition releases for some time now, and we’ve
created some steelbooks with fun uses of the medium. Look up the American Psycho face reveal
and Reservoir Dogs ear gag for example. With those two as precedent and the positive responses they
both received, it was actually the team at Lionsgate that pitched the hat reveal!
Making the hat “fit” wasn’t a huge problem as long as I gave the art enough extra space to account for
the minuscule amount of wiggle the clear sleeve would have. With any project with a likeness featuring
an actor like Mark Wahlberg there are going to be multiple parties involved making sure he looks
good. The approval process was very smooth, though!
I just love that this had to be a conversation somewhere while making it: "So, the cover reveals HE'S BALD! Eh!" Was there push back or immediate, go for it from higher-ups? Please tell, if any stories. Or any funny stories creating this specific cover.
Since it was the team at Lionsgate’s idea to make the bald reveal: no pushback! I think what helped was
that the American Psycho SteelBook® had a huge impact when it was released with people adding the
face-peeling effect to other SteelBooks® in their collection. Once I got to creating the art and had the
had on a separate layer, I would move the hat up and down that was a constant source of laughter in
the studio.
Now, I've seen the movie, the bald reveal doesn't really matter to the plot, it's just a dumb joke that makes Whalberg look ridiculous for the rest of the film, is that why you went so heavy with it? Playing into that dumb joke?
It’s not overly important to the plot per se, but it’s an incredibly memorable moment and aspect of the
film. Someone may see the movie and not recall specific plot points, but they’re not going to forget the
moment his hat falls off revealing that bald head!
I know it might have been hard to do, but I'm missing the Hassan love. The voice of that horny pilot maybe as a waveform spelling out sex or a satellite phone with him sending blocked out pics would have made me laugh even more on the back of the cover
Haha! I loved Hassan as well.
Do you know if Whalberg has seen the cover and his thoughts?
I’m not sure! Sometimes the likeness approvals come from agents, but I hope that he’s seen the cover
and enjoys it.
Is there any prelim art you can share or other ideas?
I can’t share any of the un-used sketches, but I can say that there were some that featured the
hula-bear!
I see Lionsgate showing the love for Steelbook's with the recent release of another favorite film of mine, You're Next. So, I'm wondering if it's the same team making all of these. Wait, did you also help with the Kill-Amazon Exclusive- Steelbook too? I just went back to see that Lionsgate released it as well, it was part of my site's Christmas Wishlist Guide last year.
The You’re Next package art was created by a very good friend of mine, Matt Ryan Tobin. He knocked
that one out of the park! I didn’t work on the Kill Amazon exclusive, but I love how it turned out!
End of Interview
So, now you know Lionsgate, loves giving the fans what they want and they know you like these fun covers. Remember to always give the ma shout-out and grab them so they can make more.
Want to thank Spencer Hubbard of Team Click Entertainment for setting this up.
