Lone Survivor movie billboards...

The start of a New Year is always the perfect time for studios to release movies on their slate that they either don't have much confidence in, or are not that good.

So poor Mark Wahlberg who's back in this less than ideal time slot, especially after his movie remake Contraband came out around this time two years ago (and look how well that performed).

Fortunately there's not much else opening at this time of the year, so maybe Lone Survivor, about a U.S. Navy SEAL team behind enemy lines in Afghanistan and their mission to capture or kill a high-ranking Taliban leader, will perform better than expected.

The action thriller is based on the failed 2005 mission of Seal Team 10, Operation Red Wings, and the non-fiction book recounting events by Marcus Luttrell, the real-life 'Lone Survivor', and Patrick Robinson.

The actual title of the film and that fact that Mark Wahlberg is the star of the promo billboards, kind of gives away who on his team will survive, but finding out how he survives is probably the main reason to go and see this military-themed movie.

Universal Pictures may have relegated Lone Survivor to a January release, but that's not to say they are not supporting the movie in the skies around L.A.

The giant-sized billboards were snapped at the intersection of Highland and Franklin Avenues in Hollywood on December 23, 2013.

Meanwhile the squarer ad version and smaller billboard were spied along Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue respectively, the same day.

The film may be 'Based on true acts of courage', but can it beat the battle of the New Year box office slump?

If all else fails we'll see Mark Wahlberg back on the big screen this summer when he takes over as lead in the Transformers: Age of Extinction.