Mark Wahlberg

This weekend saw a 20% drop-off in box office earnings at the movie theater, with Pain and Gain topping the chart at just $20 million.

Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie, and Dwayne Johnson star in Michael Bay's new action/crime/comedy.

The new film pushed Oblivion into second place, adding $17.4 million in earnings to bring its total gross to $64.7 million.

Read our Pain and Gain review to find out more, and hit the jump for the full weekend box office report:

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Pain and Gain is like if a Coen Brothers movie and a Scorsese movie had a baby and that baby disappointed its parents and went into porn.

At its core, the film is about a trio of hapless men just trying to get ahead in life, but who end up getting in way over their heads.

The difference between Pain and Gain and every Coen Brothers movie with that premise is that Michael Bay’s hapless men aren’t timid and pathetic.

They’re not looking for recompense or justice. They’re just greedy meatheads.

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Justin Bieber has a pair of major celebrities in his corner.

At last night's premiere of Pain & Gain, both 50 Cent and Mark Wahlberg responded to the controversy surrounding Bieber and his recent Anne Frank comments, with the rapper echoing the sentiment that has landed Bieber in trouble:

"She probably would have been [a belieber]," Fiddy said of the Holocaust victim.

Wahlberg, meanwhile, thinks JB just needs a break.

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Shia LaBeouf is out.

And Mark Wahlberg is in?!?

Confirming surprising rumors that circulated around the Internet last week, Transformers director Michael Bay left a note on his website yesterday that acknowledged the Oscar nominee would anchor the fourth installment in this critically-lambasted franchise.

Referring to a recent collaboration between the pair, Bay wrote:

"Mark is awesome. We had a blast working on 'Pain and Gain' and I’m so fired up to be back working with him. An actor of his caliber is the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the 'Transformers’ legacy."

The first three Transformers flicks have earned more than $2.6 billion worldwide. But, come on, they're terrible.

What do you think of Wahlberg  being cast in Transformers 4, which comes out in June 2014?

Mark Wahlberg is continuing to walk back his recent comments about September 11, saying he made a mistake but attempting to put it in some context.

In the latest issue of Men’s Journal, the actor said that he would have handled things differently had he been on one of the planes downed by terrorists.

Wahlberg's 9/11 comments were widely criticized and he quickly apologized. Speaking to Kidd Kraddick in the Morning on Friday, he explained it as such:

“I would never disrespect the victims of 9/11 or their families. It was misunderstood. My only intention was to explain that I would do anything to protect my family – I would put myself in harms way to protect my family or innocent people."

"That was it. First and foremost, I am not speaking as an actor."

"I am a real guy from the streets and I’ve been in a lot of situations, so I was very out of line and I wasn’t thinking about the real heroes and the guys, women, children, fathers, sons, daughters who were on those flights.”

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Give Mark Wahlberg credit for a swift, simple and seemingly sincere apology after a boast that he would have fended off 9/11 hijackers and prevented a plane from crashing.

For reasons unknown, he said this to Men's Journal. The quote:

"If I was on the [hijacked] plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'Okay, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry.'"

This came up because Mark was initially booked on one of the fights that was hijacked, only to change it serendipitously. He mused about what might've been.

It did not go over well.

Wahlberg's reps promptly issued a statement from the 40-year-old Contraband star admitting the foolishness of his statements and expressing remorse.

"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would've done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," Wahlberg wrote. "I deeply apologize to the families of the victims."

"My answer came off as insensitive, and that was certainly not my intention."

If only Mark Wahlberg were on one of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001.

We don't mean that to suggest that we wish Mark were dead - that's precisely the point! In an interview with Men's Journal, the Contraband star claims that if he were on board that fateful day, the storyline would've been much different.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did," he says.

He's not speaking metaphorically, he's apparently serious. Mark adds:

"There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land this somewhere safely, don't worry.'"

Presumably, he's kidding. He can't think he would have been able to fight off multiple hijackers and land a plane single-handedly. We hope. But the question remains.

Is this kind of boast insulting to the dead passengers and their families?

Especially those on Flight 93, who basically died to protect others?

[Photo: WENN.com]

In Contraband, Mark Wahlberg stars as a reformed hoodlum who thought he was out of "the game," only to find himself pulled back into it by his family.

Having gone straight, but needing to save a brother-in-law who got in over his head, he rejoins his old crew for one last job. Funny how that works out!

Giovanni Ribisi plays what appears to be the main bad guy in this explosive - seriously, a lot of stuff blows up - film. Contraband hits theaters January 13.

Check it out the trailer below, although be forewarned that there are some spoilers. All trailers lay out the story a little, but this one more than usual:

Contraband Trailer

Has the torch of hotness been passed?

At yesterday's Hollywood Foreign Press Association's luncheon in Beverly Hills, Mark Wahlberg took to the podium, looked at Leonardo DiCaprio and said:

"I'm sitting at a table with a gentleman who is better looking than you and is in better shape than me. So, we're both out of a job, dude. Taylor Lautner! We're screwed."

Wahlberg's praise flattered Lautner ("Hearing words like that from Mark and everybody it's just really surreal."), but they simply caused us to wonder: is the rapper-turned-actor correct? Which of these stars would you rather take it from?

Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham, his longtime partner and his wife of six months, welcomed their fourth child together on Monday evening at 6:35 pm.

The couple is reportedly on cloud nine after welcoming a daughter named Margaret Grace at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, a source says.

"Mark was in the delivery room with Rhea," says the source. "And he cheered her on all the way. Rhea was a real trouper. They can't wait to get home."

"A big happy family with their four kids is what they wanted."

Congratulations to Mark Wahlberg and Rhea Durham!

Looks like they've gotten there! Rhea and Mark's three older children are Ella, 6, Michael, 4 and Brendan, 1. They all must be psyched to meet Margaret.

Mark's new film, The Lovely Bones, opens later this month.