Mark Wahlberg wants to make Las Vegas ‘Hollywood 2.0’

Mark Wahlberg should start marketing “Las Vegas — Hollywood 2.0” merch. It seems he sells everything else.

Las Vegas’ favorite new A-lister used the term again Tuesday, telling “The Talk” co-host Cheryl Underwood he wants to build an entertainment and business empire in our city. All while tending to his young family, naturally.

“That is the biggest challenge. Every free moment that I have, I’m at home,” Wahlberg said during a Zoom appearance on the CBS daytime talker. “I moved to Nevada, where after this gubernatorial election, hopefully it will go to legislation and get a bill passed so we can get tax credit for the state, and build a state-of-the-art studio here and make this Hollywood 2.0.”

Wahlberg has made the studio a mission since moving to Vegas several months ago (though he is still pronouncing the state as “Ne-VAAH-duh,” rather than the preferred, “Ne-VAH-duh).

“I want to be able to work from home. I moved to California many years ago to pursue acting, and I’ve only made a couple of movies in the entire time that I was there,” Wahlberg continued. “So, to be able to give my kids a better life and follow and pursue their dreams — whether it be my daughter as an equestrian, my son as a basketball player, my younger son as a golfer, this made a lot more sense for us.”

Wahlberg’s kids reportedly attend Bishop Gorman High School. Over the summer he purchased a two-story estate in The Summit Club for $14.5 million. He has since posted video from the golf course, including a clip this week where his cart was overcome by a flurry of grasshoppers (F-bombs aplenty in that post).

Wahlberg comes off as a one-man corporation, and there’s no reason to doubt his vision for Vegas. He says he wants to “build a studio as well as a shoe factory, and a factory for Municipal (Wahlberg’s sports-apparel company). So, we came here to just kind of give ourselves a new look, a fresh start for the kids, and there’s lot of opportunity here. I’m really excited about the future.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.