Everyone from Steve McQueen to Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood and Vin Diesel have been attached to a big screen adaptation of Mack Bolan (a.k.a. The Executioner) over the years, but a movie featuring the character who was introduced by author Don Pendleton in 1969 has never actually happened.
Pendleton wrote 37 novels in the series, while over 600 have since been produced by ghost writers. That gives any filmmaker a lot of material to work with, and it now appears as if it’s finally moving ahead.
Warner Bros. have hired Shane Salerno (Savages, Avatar 4) to pen the screenplay, with The Hangover’s Todd Phillips attached to direct. The project is being lined up for Bradley Cooper (American Hustle) to play the titular character, and the plan is for Salerno’s script to be the first in a trilogy.
Salerno, Phillips, and Cooper are all set to produce this adaptation of Mack Bolan as well.
According to the writer, his take on the classic series of novels will result in a movie which he hopes will be a, “relevant, grounded and gritty, real-world, PG-13 action-drama film series.”
Mack Bolan was a Vietnam War veteran serving as a sniper who racked up over 97 kills, giving him the nickname of “The Executioner”. However, he would also become known as Seargent Mercy because of his compassion and willingness to help innocent Vietnamese citizens caught in the crossfire.
When he returned to America, Bolan would use his skills to take out those involved with organised crime in order to clean up his beloved home country. While much of this will likely be updated, it’s easy to see that the potential for a great movie is definitely there, and Phillips is without a doubt an interesting choice for such a project.
What do you guys think?
