Mark Wahlberg is filming a Netflix thriller in Penang right now

Mark Wahlberg and Hollywood does not come to Penang very often. When it does, it does not usually arrive standing next to a Perodua Kelisa.

Wahlberg arrived in George Town on July 10 to film scenes for The Big Fix. It is an upcoming Netflix crime thriller. Videos on social media showed the actor on Lebuh Melayu, surrounded by crew, lighting towers and camera rigs. A silver Kelisa parked nearby promptly became Malaysia’s most talked-about car.

The Penang shoot runs for approximately two weeks. When it wraps, Wahlberg returns to Sydney, where the bulk of production is based. But the George Town footage will carry Malaysia onto Netflix screens worldwide. The film releases most likely in mid-to-late 2027.

What Mark Wahlberg and The Big Fix is actually about

The Big Fix is not a fictionalised story. It draws from real events — Brett Forrest’s book on global football match-fixing. The film centres on Chris Eaton — a real person. He was a former Interpol officer who served as FIFA’s top enforcement agent. His work helped expose one of the largest match-fixing networks in football history.

Mark Wahlberg plays Eaton. His target is a professional gambler who lost $10 million in three months to his own addiction. Desperate, he turned to organised crime to rig matches worldwide for profit. Riz Ahmed plays the match-fixer. The Oscar-winning actor is known for Sound of Metal and The Night Of.

A routine investigation inside FIFA quickly becomes a globe-trotting pursuit between the two men. The screenplay is by Guy Bolton (Hijack) and Justin Haythe (The Serpent Queen). The director is Baltasar Kormákur, the Icelandic filmmaker. This is their third film together, after Contraband and 2 Guns.

The full cast also includes Natalie Dormer, Chin Han, Gabriel Leone, Susan Lynch and Malaysian actress Nuha Jes Izman.

Why Penang and what George Town brings to the film

The Big Fix is primarily a Sydney production. Much of Sydney has been transformed into international locations. That includes London streets with prop signs and period brickwork. Penang was picked for scenes that need a real Southeast Asian city. Sydney cannot fake that.

Penang Island City Council Mayor Datuk A. Rajendran confirmed filming began on July 10 across six locations in the state. Confirmed sites include Lebuh Melayu, Lorong Kulit, City Stadium, Batu Kawan Stadium and Macallum Field. Temporary road closures are in effect at several locations while production is active.

The production is backed by FIMI — Malaysia’s film incentive programme. It gives financial rebates to international films that shoot in Malaysia. FINAS chairman Datuk Hans Isaac visited the set. Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil also visited the filming location. Biscuit Films, a local production company, is handling coordination on the ground.

George Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its shophouses, colonial streets and Southeast Asian texture make it unlike anywhere else in the region.

The Malaysian connection most people missed

While the Kelisa moment dominated social media, a quieter piece of the story deserves more attention. One of The Big Fix’s cast members is Malaysian.

Nuha Jes Izman is a US-based Malaysian actress best known for playing Kristen in Showtime’s Yellowjackets. She has joined the cast of a major Netflix film alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Her inclusion is not a token role or a local cameo. She was cast through the same international process as Ahmed, Dormer and the rest.

Wahlberg himself offered a glimpse of his time in Malaysia beyond the film set. On Sunday, he posted on Instagram alongside the Rev. Fr. Michael Raymond, the parish priest of the Church of Divine Mercy in Penang. “Happy Sunday brother. God bless you. Stay prayed up, from Malaysia,” he wrote. It was not a PR move.

International productions filming in Malaysia are not new. But a Netflix film of this scale shooting in George Town is a significant moment for Malaysia’s screen industry.

FIMI exists precisely to attract this kind of production. Every major shoot that chooses Malaysia creates local jobs, showcases local locations and builds the industry. Biscuit Films’ involvement adds another high-profile credit to Malaysia’s growing reputation as an international production hub.

The streets of George Town will be seen by viewers across 190 countries. Many of them will never have heard of Penang before. The Kelisa is a bonus