Mark Wahlberg’s Upcoming Heist Movie Can Launch The Franchise 3 Of His Former Co-Stars Failed To

Mark Wahlberg’sPlay Dirty can finally launch a franchise that three of his biggest co-stars failed to. When Wahlberg made the unlikely switch from rapper to movie star, he was balancing acclaimed dramas like Boogie Nights with B-movies like The Corrupter. Mark Wahlberg action movies soon became a subgenre unto themselves and while in recent years he’s gravitated more towards family-friendly projects like Arthur the King, he’ll still dip back into R-rated action on occasion.

On that front, Wahlberg has two notable projects on the way. The first is Flight Risk, where Wahlberg takes on a rare villain role as a hitman posing as a pilot and attempting to kill a federal witness. Flight Risk is also helmed by his Daddy’s Home 2 co-star Mel Gibson, marking the latter’s first directorial effort since 2016’s Hacksaw Ridge. Wahlberg also has heist movie Play Dirty from director Shane Black on the horizon, casting the star as a vicious thief trying to pull off a big score.

Mark Wahlberg’s Play Dirty Adapts The Parker Crime Novel Series

This isn’t Parker’s first time on the big screen

While Play Dirty doesn’t appear to be adapting a particular book, it’s based on the cult Parker novel series from Donald E. Westlake. The first novel The Hunter followed Parker as he sought revenge against those who betrayed him following a heist gone wrong – including his wife. The book’s relentless pace, punchy writing and amoral anti-hero made it a surprise hit, and Westlake went on to pen over 20 novels featuring the character before his passing in 2008.

If the character sounds familiar, that’s because Jason Statham failed to launch a Parker franchise following the 2013 thriller of the same name. Shane Black is a noted fan of old pulp paperbacks – as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or his Amazon pilot Edge should prove – and there couldn’t be a better director to bring Parker back to life. While Parker isn’t exactly a monster, he is borderline sociopathic and willing to hurt or kill anyone who gets in the way of his goals.

Assuming Play Dirty stays true to the character, the film and Flight Risk could signal a move into darker roles for Wahlberg in future. The Parker books have been adapted many times too, with the most famous being The Hunter adaptation Point Black from 1967 with Lee Marvin. Nearly all of those movies sanded the harder edges off the thief, so it will be interesting to see just how rough Parker will be in Wahlberg’s hands.

Several Of Wahlberg’s Co-Stars Have Played Parker Onscreen

From Robert Duvall’s Macklin to Mel Gibson’s Porter

Westlake may have optioned books like The Hunter to producers, but unless they agreed to make a series of films, he refused to let them use the name Parker too. That’s why Marvin’s Point Black protagonist was renamed “Walker,” for instance. Statham’s Parker was the first time an attempt was truly made to build a series of films, but the film was a box-office disappointment. In total, three of Wahlberg’s former co-stars have played versions of Parker, including Robert Duvall in 1973’s The Outfit, Mel Gibson in Payback and Statham in Parker.

Wahlberg and Duvall worked together in We Own The Night, Statham was his co-star in The Italian Job while he and Gibson have worked together several times. Of those three actors, it appears only Statham’s take was created with sequels in mind. Even so, had Payback been a bigger hit in 1999, it’s easy to see Warner Bros nudging Gibson towards a sequel. The third Parker book The Outfit is a direct sequel to The Hunter and would have made a great starting point for a Payback sequel.

The Outfit also served as the source novel for the 1973 Robert Duvall movie of the same name. Considering franchises were few and far between during this time, it’s doubtful anyone involved – including Duvall – gave much thought to an Outfit sequel. The Statham, Gibson and Duvall movies all had intriguing spins on Parker as a character too; Statham’s Parker was tweaked to suit his action persona, whereas Gibson’s Porter could be violent and tough but he also had a sense of humor and a romantic subplot.

Why None Of The Past Parker Movies Have Spawned A Franchise

The chances of Payback 2: Paid in Full were always remote

Just like Statham’s Parker before it, Play Dirty is being set up with a potential series in mind. Despite being based on a popular series of crime books, Parker as a character is a tough sell to mainstream audiences. In The Hunter, he’s practically the Terminator, punching and shooting his way through the criminal underworld to recover a relatively modest amount of money. There is even a passage where he accidentally kills an innocent woman, but instead of feeling guilt or shame, he’s irritated with himself for letting such an unprofessional thing happen.

Audiences might be drawn to anti-heroes, but Parker is so cold and humorless that softening him for a movie adaptation is almost essential. The Statham movie didn’t land a sequel because it received a tepid critical response (standing at 41% on Rotten Tomatoes) and earned just over $46 million worldwide. The film didn’t do justice to the character either, and more than that, felt like any number of action programmers the star fronted around this period like Safe.

Payback was better received and came during Gibson’s movie star peak, but unlike the Lethal Weapon saga, the film and Porter were just too edgy to attract audiences back for more. The same is true for Duvall’s The Outfit, and even if this tough thriller had been an oversized success, the odds of a follow-up were always slim.

Play Dirty Could Be The Movie That Finally Cracks The Character

Shane Black’s Parker adaptation could unlock the thief for mainstream audiences

Little has been revealed about Play Dirty so far, including how accurate it will be to Westlake’s work. Given that Black is such a fan of the series, it’s doubtful he would be aiming to make a family-friendly, PG-13 riff on the property. Black has such a gift for character and action that Play Dirty has every chance of being a success when it arrives. The writer/director has also proven time and again with screenplays like Lethal Weapon or The Last Boy Scout that he can write flawed, sometimes unlikeable protagonists that viewers can still root for.

Play Dirty was originally developed with Robert Downey Jr in mind, with Wahlberg stepping into the Parker role when he dropped out. The film could be a great move for Wahlberg, and one that allows him to merge his action persona with a more morally ambiguous role. It will be a tricky tonal balance for both director and star, but Play Dirty could very well lead to Wahlberg being the first actor to play Parker more than once.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, The Numbers