The Stath is still very much in demand, and this time Variety reports he’s in talks for a new indie thriller titled Parker from director Taylor Hackford (Ray). The film will be based on Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Hunter, one of a series of book about a thief.
The novel has already been loosely adapted before in the form of John Boorman’s classic Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin. That took the basic elements of a crime thriller and twisted the genre into something news and more interesting. It looks like Hackford wants to do the same, saying, “I don’t want to get stuck in a genre. What I like most about this piece of material is you can take a genre piece like this and turn it into a great movie.” The Mel Gibson flick Payback was also based on the same novel.
The story centres on a disciplined thief who lives by a strict code of conduct. He never steals money from people who actually need it, although he will strike back with a vengeance if he is crossed. John J. McLaughlin (Black Swan) is writing the screenplay.