Director Shane Black at the premiere of ‘Play Dirty’. Photo: Prime Video.
Preview:
Shane Black will co-write and may direct ‘The Executioner’ for Sony.
It would be based on Don Pendleton’s novels.
Joel Silver is aboard to produce.
Known for bringing tough guys to the screen in entertaining fashion, Shane Black has found one more to focus on –– The Hollywood Reporter brings word that he’s aboard to co-write a movie based on the pulpy action thriller books originated by writer Don Pendleton under the blanket title ‘The Executioner.’
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With producer Joel Silver –– who has a long connection to Black and has his own history trying to adapt the book –– also involved, the new movie is coming together because Sony managed to snag the rights.
Director Shane Black at the premiere of ‘Play Dirty’. Photo: Prime Video.
The book series that told the muscular and bullet-filled adventures of Mack Bolan, a sniper turned one man army fighting against the Mafia, the KGB, terrorists and cyber-criminals, or whoever were the bad guys of his latest book’s era.
Initially the books were written by Pendleton but later ghost writers were hired as he licensed out the books, which at their height were being churned out upwards of two a month and in the end numbered 464 books. The series ran from 1969 to 2020 (Pendleton died in 1995), selling hundreds of millions copies worldwide, spawned spin-off book lines, a magazine and comics.
Who else has tried to adapt ‘The Executioner’ series?
Bradley Cooper attends Netflix’s ‘Maestro’ LA special screening at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on December 12, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Once the king of the 1980s and 1990s action-comedy script sale, since turning his hand to directing, Shane Black has had a somewhat more mixed career. There have been definite highs (‘Kiss Kiss Bang Bang’ and ‘Iron Man 3’) and true lows (his most recent directorial effort was the ill-fated ‘The Predator’ back in 2018). And even when he’s hit the mark, the box office results have not been kind (‘The Nice Guys’ really deserved better).
With ‘Play Dirty’, he’s got some choice (if frequently adapted) source material in Donald E. Westlake’s Parker character, and while he manages to pull off a convincing, double-triple-quadruple-crossing crime caper, there’s a big problem sitting squarely at the top of the cast list.
Script and Direction
Director Shane Black at the premiere of ‘Play Dirty’. Photo: Prime Video.
Black, working here with Charles Mondry (2024’s ‘Road House’) and Anthony Bagarozzi (who co-wrote ‘The Nice Guys’ with the director), has cooked up a twisty heist thriller that draws from Westlake’s novels but isn’t a direct adaptation of any of them.
It’s certainly chock full of action, though the pacing suffers some when the filmmaker takes his foot off the gas (or the train pedal) to dig down into exposition, but that is largely carried by some great actors spouting swear-laden dialogue at each other. Oh, and no points for guessing that the movie is set during Black’s trademark Christmas season.
The elephant in the room in ‘Play Dirty’s case is Mark Wahlberg, who brings about as much charisma to the lead role as some wet, peeling wallpaper. It’s even harder to stomach when you know that Black’s old pal Robert Downey Jr. was originally attached to star.
Still, the rest of the cast essentially act Wahlberg off the screen, with particular plaudits due the likes of Rosa Salazar, Keegan-Michael Key, LaKeith Stanfield and Tony Shalhoub, the latter getting to show off his gangster side with aplomb.
While nowhere near a classic Shane Black offering (come on Prime Video, just buy the rights and let him reunite Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe for ‘The Nice Guys 2’!), it’s diverting enough, even if the lead character is something of a joyless chore rather than the sharp criminal of the books.
An expert thief rolls out the biggest heist of his life as Parker (Mark Wahlberg), along with Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), Zen (Rosa Salazar) and a skilled crew, stumble onto a score that pits them against the New York mob.
Who is in the cast of ‘Play Dirty’?
Mark Wahlberg as Parker
LaKeith Stanfield as Grofield
Rosa Salazar as Zen
Tony Shalhoub as Lozini
Keegan-Michael Key as Ed Mackey
Nat Wolff as Kincaid Chukwudi Iwuji as Phineas Paul Thomas Jane as Philly Webb
Director Shane Black at the premiere of ‘Play Dirty’. Photo: Prime Video.
