Marky Mark is Parky Park in the new film from the writer of Lethal Weapon.
Parker, the ruthless professional thief at the centre of a string of blisteringly good novels by Richard Stark (AKA Donald E. Westlake) has come to the screen a number of times, and under a number of names. Sometimes the results have been great, like John Boorman’s Point Blank in 1967. Sometimes, not so great: 2013’s Parker, which has Jason Statham in the title role, is a whiff. But Shane Black, the guy who gave us Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys, co-writing and directing a Parker flick? That feels like a winner.
Play Dirty Trailer
What’s the plot?
As the official synopsis helpfully informs us:
An expert thief rolls out the biggest heist of his life in Play Dirty, an action-packed thriller from director Shane Black. Parker (Mark Wahlberg), along with Grofield (LaKeith Stanfield), Zen (Rosa Salazar) and a skilled crew, stumble onto a score that pits them against the New York mob in this gritty, clever caper.
Casting an eye over the trailer, what we seem to have is our man Parker being betrayed by Salazar’s Zen, which normally has pretty fatal consequences, only for her to turn him onto some kinda massive heist that involves robbing an entire country and swiping some salvaged pirate treasure.
Now, this mashes together elements from a few of the book series, which is interesting. Black and his co-writers, Charles Mondry and Anthony Bagarozzi, aren’t adapting any specific novel – they’re more going for a general (and franchise-ready) Parker vibe. From what we’ve been shown, the vibe feels right.
Who’s in it?
Mark Wahlberg is Parker, LaKeith Stanfield is his associate Grofield, Rosa Salazar is Zen, while Tony Shalhoub, Keegan-Michael Key, Nat Wolff, Chukwudi Iwuji, Gretchen Mol, Thomas Jane, and Saskia Archer are in the mix, too.
When’s it out?
Play Dirty debuts exclusively on Prime Video on October 1, 2025.
What’s the vibe?
As an avowed fan of both the books and Shane Black as a writer and director, I’m in the bag.
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