Frequent collaborators Shane Black (Iron Man 3) and Joel Silver (Die Hard), who created magic together as writer and producer for classics such as 1987’s Lethal Weapon and 1991’s The Last Boy Scout, respectively, are back at it for Sony’s adaptation of Don Pendleton’s The Executioner books. Once again, Black is set to direct and write the project, while Silver will produce.
The Executioner series is a hard-edged pulp collection following Mack Bolan, a former sniper who becomes a lone-wolf warrior. Each installment threw him into action-packed confrontations with whatever threats dominated the times – organized crime, Soviet agents, terrorist groups, cybercriminals, etc. (via World of Reel).
Shane Black and Joel Silver’s last collaboration was supposed to be the 2025 Amazon MGM heist film Play Dirty, but in midst of production, Silver was fired due to allegations of verbal abuse towards female studio executives.
There are some who believe it was because of Silver’s absence that the film was met with mixed to lukewarm response from critics and audiences alike. Prior to Silver being fired from Play Dirty, their collaborations together were 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and 2016’s The Nice Guys, both of which were critically successful, so it’s hard to deny Silver’s influence and commitment to quality control.
That said, we’re hoping the duo delivers with the live-action The Executioner. Casting details are still under wraps, but it raises the question: which current actor would you cast as Mack Bolan? We look forward to your suggestions in the comments below!
For now, we leave you with the Trailers for some of the 80s ‘n 90s magic that Black and Silver delivered to the screens:
Not Alan Ritchson. Not marky mark. Not Teyana Taylor.
Please, not Mark Wahlberg. I don’t want to see any more of my favourite pulp characters ruined by his monotonous ‘acting’.
He has ruined Bob Lee Swagger, Spenser, Max Payne and Parker. Keep him away from Mack Bolan.
He got to a point where he kept giving the same performance over and over again, and was overexposed. I personally liked Wahlberg’s Bob Lee Swagger, and I want to give Play Dirty a chance, but yes he was bad in the other two roles. (And I haven’t forgiven him for Mile 22)
Joel Silver did produce a ton of my favorite films, but I don’t think his absence from a movie would lessen its quality. One has to question how good he was when he claims that The Last Boy Scout was originally called Die Hard, and that he asked Shane Black if he could use it for the movie we all know of today.
And he would often brag about how he didn’t want the cast to do their own fight scenes in The Matrix, but then would say Keanu Reeves was better than Jet Li because he asked for more takes while Li asked for fewer takes in his films. Silver did a lot of good stuff, but he had a lot of contradictions too.
And no Timothy Chalamet, no Barry Keoghan, no Paul Mescal, and absolutely NOT Glen Powell.
Mac Bolan WILL LIVE!
Thomas Jane
Henry Cavill
Armie Hammer
Henry Golding
Scott Adkins