Nordling here.
I've not read any of the Parker books by Donald Westlake, but I have seen POINT BLANK (where Lee Marvin plays him and he's called Walker) and PAYBACK (Mel Gibson plays him as Porter), both based on Westlake's THE HUNTER, the first of the Parker books. Parker is a thief seemingly without a code of ethics, but when you cross him you better make sure you've got your cemetery plot all picked out.
Now Jason Statham will be taking his turn at the character, according to Variety. Taylor Hackford will direct PARKER, based on Westlake's books. It's unclear if this is an overall adaptation of the character or if it's based on any particular Westlake novel, but since there's so many novels to choose from, this could easily be a franchise character for Statham. John McLaughlin (BLACK SWAN) wrote the script. Says Hackford, "What I like the most about this piece is you can take a genre piece like this and turn it into a great movie."
Like many of you, I'm a Statham fan. I especially love THE BANK JOB, which I think is his best performance. I think Parker is perfect for him, as long as he plays him like the son-of-a-bitch that Parker is.
Nordling, out.
