Good news! I have it from a reliable source that the possibly upcoming Parker flick will neither be an original nor another take on The Hunter, but will instead be based on Flashfire. I’ve also learned that the filmmakers are committed to making an actual Parker movie, with a main character as close to Donald Westlake’s vision as possible. So this bit from the Variety piece that broke the news…
Pic, based on the book series by Donald Westlake, revolves around a thief who, though at times is forced to be a killer, still lives by a code of honor that includes never stealing money from people who need it.
…seems to be just erroneous reporting. Thank God.
This news, along with the previously-reported news that Darwyn Cooke is creating an original Parker comic-book story, can only mean that Donald Westlake’s heirs want the Parker character to live on beyond Westlake’s 24 novels. They are in a better position than I to know how Westlake would feel about that, of course, but I hope he’d be pleased. It looks like the movie project lives up to his standards–Westlake wouldn’t allow filmmakers to use the name “Parker” unless they were going to do a franchise, and it’s reasonable to assume that the upcoming movie is an attempt to launch a franchise since lots of Jason Statham movies seem to get sequels (The Transporter, Crank, The Expendables).
Allowing the creation of an original comic-book story has some pretty major implications. Will Darwyn Cooke be allowed to create several such stories, if he decides that that’s something he’d like to do? Might another artist and writer be allowed to create Parker stories for the comics?
And, at some point, might another novelist be allowed to write a Parker novel? Maybe even under the “Richard Stark” byline?
One can assume that Westlake’s heirs would pick an author to carry on the series with the utmost of care. This has been done successfully in the past–I read a couple of John Gardner’s James Bond books back in high school and remember enjoying them tremendously. But Parker, as a character, would end up a little different. A new author would not be Westlake, and it would be impossible for that author to know exactly how Westlake envisioned Parker.
How would you feel about that?
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Great news! I like the movie idea; _Flashfire_ is one of my favorite second-series Parker novels. Parker is such an indelible character that I could see any number of skilled writers/artists doing him well. It’d be especially interesting to see novelists with very un-Stark styles try to tackle a true Parker plot. It’d be odd to see the Stark credit on the cover of a book written by someone else, though. I can’t wait to hear more!
Personally I’d like to see a Batman vs. Parker comic by Darwin Cooke.
I probably should pick up a copy of Flashfire. You’d have to get just the right person to do a new Parker series otherwise it would seem weird. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it could go wrong real easy if for example the new writer might get it in his head to make Parker a more “heroic” character.
All indications are that the Westlake estate is taking very good care of the character–certainly, if anyone has earned the right to create original Parker material, it’s Darwyn Cooke. So I’m reasonably certain that they would pick a top-notch writer if they choose to go down the road of new novels.
I think I’d love to see one of Westlake’s old friends (I’m thinking specifically of Lawrence Block and Brian Garfield) take a stab at a Parker novel. I know they’d resist the urge to “make the character their own” by introducing unwelcome changes. There are some younger novelists I can think of as well–Wallace Stroby or Charles Ardai would certainly bring the requisite level of respect for the character. I’m sure there are others.
I do have some trepidation because such a thing could easily go wrong in the wrong hands. I read Philip Jose Farmer’s Doc Savage novel, Escape From Loki, and thought it was awful partially because Farmer was obsessed with sex and was bound and determined that Doc should get laid. Doc Savage does not get laid! But I have faith that Westlake’s heirs would make sure that a new Parker novel would be done right.
I almost linked this in the piece, but it makes more sense as a footnote in the comments–John Gardner’s piece on working with the Ian Fleming estate and writing James Bond books is fascinating: http://www.john-gardner.com/bond
While I’m still on the fence over the choice of Statham for the lead – the guy’s appeared in a lot of bad, bad films – I can kind of understand it as his Transporter character had faint similarities to Parker. The film was still crap, though. On the plus side, I’m glad they’ve picked Flashfire as the source novel (if that is indeed the case). I’m a big fan of the second-series Parkers as they’re pretty much what introduced me to the character (ignoring a reading of the Rare Coin Score when I was a kid that left me cold) and Flashfire’s one of the best. Similar to The Outfit, there’s a great section that follows Parker pulling heist after heist to finance himself for the task ahead – very cinematic. Comeback and Breakout would also be fine choices.
Flashfire does seem like a much better fit with Statham’s on-screen persona. He usually plays quiet, internal characters so hopefully there won’t be pressure to “open up” Parker with pointless backstory / relationships / etc. If this does turn into a series, I second the call for Breakout – it’d make for a great follow-up, as I think you have to first fully establish Parker’s character to make clear just how much he wants to get out of that book’s various cages.
Anybody can write a Parker story. With John Gardner and the James Bond books, since you mentioned him, the problem was not the grasp of the character, and Gardner’s style didn’t need to match Ian Fleming’s. Ian Fleming had no definitive style of writing (as in, putting the words together) but it’s the opposite with Westlake. “Richard Stark” had such a distinctive style of how he assembled the words that part of the fun of the Parker books was just reading those words even when the books were repeats of what had come before. No other author can capture that style. For many years, as you know, Westlake could not write in that style, so he didn’t produce any Stark books because why simply imitate?
While a comic book Parker continuation would be fine, and a movie series would be fine, original novels by a new author is a grave mistake. I don’t think we all read Parker because of Parker (though we did); we read Parker because of Stark. No Stark, no Parker.
I’m with Brian Drake, I’m a Westlake fan first and a Parker (and Dortmunder, Mitch Tobin, Sam Holt, Grofield)fan second. It could be the sweetest Parker ever written, but knowing the great DEW had nothing to do with it would cause me to avoid it like the plague. With Westlake I found a guy I really liked and set out to track down the canon…..I accept no substitutes! Is that wrong? Probably, but there’s too much DEW out there to find and digest and so little time….
Some scenes in “The Wheelman” suggest that Duane Swierczynski could do a good job writing a post-Stark Parker novel. The man can plot an escape route much in the Parker/Stark vein.
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Oh, yeah. I should have thought of him.
“..based on the book series by Donald Westlake, revolves around a thief who, though at times is forced to be a killer, still lives by a code of honor that includes never stealing money from people who need it.” O.K…
Did I miss a Parker Novel someplace? This “Killer/Thief with Morals” crap
is what “PC” Hollywood does to make Noir acceptable. Film Makers, learn from Darwyn Cooke,Just leave it Straight-Up! Don’t Change it,Don’t add a
“Funny Comic Side-kick”,Hollywood can ruin a great Book series with their
great “Ideas”(See:The”Matt Helm”Series,”Shooter”,ect.)With the Very rare
exception of The “Thin Man”Series,Hollywood will screw this up as well as
everything else that make a movie that is “Based on the Novel by..” Guys,Please give us a Straght “Parker” movie or call the character something else. Just my Two-Cents worth.(Hell,I’ll still go see it just because it’s A “Parker” Movie.)
Director of movie “Ray” is directing.
Allow me to chime in on the Duane Swierczynski comment… “The Wheelman” was such a homage that Duane even copied exact lines from The Hunter. Read it for yourself if you haven’t, but so far that’s been Duane’s best book. Duane is a decent writer but I quit his books after The Blonde. He can plot but his characters are too thin and if I don’t care about the characters I do not care about the mayhem going on around them.
Alongside Duane S., Tom Piccirilli would also be an excellent choice, his two “Parker” novels : The cold Spot/The Coldest Mile are a real treat.
Joe Gores would have been great.
and for the movie, I want Jack Palance back.
Excellent explaination for those who don’t know! I like EAstman’s onlnie geneaology because it is read to me! so i can do other things while listening! Maybe you could add that to your blog?
The article about Darwin Cooke’s “Martini Edition” only says that the 8 page story is “brand new.” This does not mean the same thing as “original.” From what I’ve read, I don’t believe Cooke intends to create original Parker stories. The 8 pager will most likely be an adaptation of some portion of a Parker novel Cooke doesn’t intend to adapt fully (He’s stated that there will only be 4 adaptations, not counting his abbreviated take on Getaway Face.)
Sorry – “Darwyn.” I DO know how to spell his name!
There’s discussion about Parker Comics and the new movie on this podcast about comis. It’s short and at about 25 minutes. Beware there is foul language:
http://www.loungegeeks.com/2011/05/loose-canon-comics-ep-111-podcast-7/
It’s simple if you aumsse that you will have all the estate you need when you retire, and don’t want to leave anything additional behind, then yes, term is the way to go. If you do want to leave something behind above and beyond your estate, then permanent life insurance is the way to go.Neither is right or wrong. As I noted in the article, the first belief is common most folks will decide they don’t want life insurance when they’re older, and go with term.
It’s a pleasure to find someone who can identify the issues so clearly
A an original Parker Graphic Novel would awesome by Cooke. He can create how many he wants.
Statham film sounds as useless as Paycheck with the soft hero with morals Gibson played.
The heirs of his are frankly a disgrace if they let someone else even quality noir writers like Block,Piccirilli write a new Parker. Westlake himself didnt want to write Parker unless he felt like it, i doubt he would let others do books with his creation. Even film adapations didnt get Parker name.