According to the newsletter What I’m Hearing, the duo will team up to produce a film based on the character Parker, a meticulous thief who serves as the primary character of Donald Westlake’s novel. The character has headed twenty-four of the twenty-eight novels penned by the writer, published under his pen name Richard Stark; which ironically fits so well with the idea of Downey essaying Parker’s role on-screen. Parker is described as a ruthless criminal who possesses no redeeming qualities and does not abide by any ethical principle besides being loyal to his partners in crime.
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Downey and Black Over The Years
Downey Jr. has had great success over the last decade by primarily featuring in Marvel Studios’ projects and playing the pop-culture icon and superhero figure Tony Stark/Iron Man. In the 2010s, he mainly appeared in Marvel projects and later played John Dolittle after his exit from the MCU, in the critically panned Dolittle. However, Downey has now been roped in for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer wherein he will play Lewis Strauss. Downey will star in the film alongside Cillian Murphy in the lead role and Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Rami Malek also starring in supporting roles.
On the other hand, Shane Black has had a mixed last decade with his films. The Nice Guys (2016), a neo-noir buddy action comedy starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling became a critical success and has eventually gained the status of a cult classic. He later directed The Predator (2018), a film following up a franchise set by the 1987 original Predator movie in which Black starred. Starring Boyd Holbrook, Jacob Tremblay, Olivia Munn, and Keegan-Michael Key, the film opened to worse critical response but doubled its production budget on box-office.
Shane and Downey’s collaboration on Parker would be a fresh outing for both of them as they will be transitioning into a new phase of their respective careers. Though their previous collaborations haven’t been entirely successful; even Iron Man 3 failed to replicate the success of previous Iron Man films despite praising the critics and fell short of its franchise predecessor The Avengers.
