Mark Wahlberg Wants Las Vegas To Be Hollywood 2.0. Could A New Deal Make That Come True?

Warner Bros. Discovery WBD has big plans for a studio in Las Vegas, NV. The company announced it will partner with The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and Birtcher Development to operate Nevada Studios, a 34-acre media production complex at the UNLV Harry Reid Research & Technology Park. The deal is contingent on expanding Nevada’s film tax credit. The Nevada Studios would be renamed Warner Bros. Studios Nevada and have complete production studios.

Warner Bros. Studios Chief Operating Officer Simon Robinson said if the tax credit passes, the company would commit to a minimum of $500 million in spending over 17 years, totaling $8.5 billion. He told the Nevada Independent, "We’re committed to the bill and the state. We’re going to be around a long time. Hopefully, they can make this happen."

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Hollywood 2.0

The Warner Bros. Discovery deal isn’t the only one on the table. Actor Mark Wahlberg, who moved from California to Nevada, has been on a mission to turn Las Vegas into what he calls Hollywood 2.0. His initiative is to create a $1.8 billion studio with Sony Pictures and developer Howard Hughes Corp. HHH in the community of Summerlin. The plan was approved by the Clark County Zoning Commission earlier this year and could bring 10,000 jobs to the area. 

The project will include ten buildings with approximately 500,000 square feet of space. Howard Hughes Holdings Chief Executive Officer David O'Reilly has said the goal is to create a second commercial hub in the Summerlin development and the company is willing to make a good-faith investment before any new film credit incentives are approved by the state. 

Wahlberg’s Hollywood 2.0 vision has been in the works for a while. In 2022, he said he hoped to get a bill passed to get more tax credits to bring more film and TV projects to the state. That bill did not pass despite the efforts of Wahlberg and fellow Nevada resident actor Jeremy Renner. 

In June, Nevada Assembly Majority Leader Sandra Jauregui submitted a draft for a bill named the Nevada Studio Infrastructure, Jobs and Workforce Training Act to be introduced during the 2025 Legislative Session. It will include details on the Summerlin Studios project as well as plans to expand the Nevada film tax credit. She estimated it would create 20,000 construction jobs, 15,000 annual jobs, and bring $2.85 billion to Las Vegas annually. Those numbers might go up on the heels of the Warner Bros. Discovery announcement. Jauregui said the bill will “help expand Las Vegas' global image as the entertainment capital of the world.”

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There are other signs Las Vegas is becoming a larger entertainment hub. The Independent Film & Television Alliance moved the American Film Market from California to Las Vegas. This event has been held in California since 1981 but will be held at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas in November. The growing popularity of The Las Vegas Sphere has also brought more interest in entertainment to the area. 

Part of the interest in moving more film industry projects to Nevada is that even without increases to the film tax credit, the state is perceived as more business-friendly. The lack of a state personal income tax and corporate tax has attracted more businesses from Southern California, including manufacturing and logistics firms. Housing affordability is also a powerful driver. In 2023, Wahlberg told Fox Business, "When I moved here, I brought probably like 15 or 20 people that work with me also moving here. They went from three-bedroom houses that they were really struggling to pay rent for. And now they have a six-bedroom house. And it’s, you know, half the cost.”