Producer Joel Silver Fired From Mark Wahlberg's Amazon Studios Film PLAY DIRTY
Iconic Hollywood producer Joel Silver has been fired from the upcoming Amazon Studios film Play Dirty. Mark Wahlberg stars in the film, and it’s being produced by Robert Downey Jr., who was originally supposed to star.
Writer and director Shane Black is helming the film, and he’s worked with Silver on several film projects over the years including The Nice Guys, Predator, Lethal Weapon, and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
As for why Silver was fired, Deadline reports that the “decision reportedly stemmed from alleged verbal abuse on Silver’s part toward studio execs over creative differences.”
Silver was also fired from Amazon’s reimagining of Road House, directed by Doug Liman and starring Jake Gyllenhaal. But, the producer had already “fulfilled his obligations” on that project prior to being fired.
Play Dirty is an adaptation of Donald Westlake/Richard Stark's crime fiction novels involving a career criminal character named Parker. Wahlberg will play Parker, “a professional thief who approaches his job with a straightforward, no-nonsense work ethic. He’s a craftsman. He’s brutal, brilliant. He’s also deadly. He’s whatever it takes to get the money and get away clean.”
It sounds like Silver has gotta take a chill pill. I’m sure the “verbal abuse” is something he’s been doing for years. People in the industry just aren’t going to take that kind of shit anymore.