Amazon MGM‘s Play Dirty is ready to announce its female lead for director Shane Black’s upcoming film. Joining Mark Wahlberg (The Happening, Father Stu) for Black’s crime thriller is Rosa Salazar (Captain America: Brave New World, Alita: Battle Angel, Bird Box). LaKeith Stanfield (Nope, Sorry to Bother You, Knives Out) also stars, with a script written by Black, Anthony Bagarozzi, and Chuck Mondry.
According to Deadline‘s exclusive report, Play Dirty focuses on the “professional thief Parker (Wahlberg), who, after being double-crossed and left for dead, sees his hunt for revenge bring with it a shot at the biggest heist of his career. But even with the help of his partner, actor-slash-con artist Grofield (Stanfield), he’ll still need to outsmart a South American dictator, the New York mob, and the world’s richest man if he hopes to stay alive.”
Rosa Salazar’s Play Dirty role remains a mystery. However, the film is inspired by Donald E Westlake’s Parker crime novels, written under the pseudonym Richard Stark. Jules Daly and Marc Toberoff produce, with Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey of Team Downey, Black, Mondry, Bagarozzi, and James Skotchdopole executive producing. Additionally, Ezra Emmanuel acts as a co-producer.
Rosa Salazar, while known for her role as Alita in Robert Rodriguez’s criminally underrated Alita: Battle Angel (it’s one of the best movies to watch on the Meta Quest 3), has also appeared in The Divergent Series: Insurgent, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, Bird Box, Brand New Cherry Flavor, Nick Kroll’s adult animated series Big Mouth, A24’s Oscar-nominated animated feature Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, and more.
It’s been a while since Shane Black got behind the camera for a major motion picture. His last film was 2018’s The Predator, starring Jacob Tremblay, Boyd Holbrook, and Trevante Rhodes. In addition to Play Dirty, Black is slated to adapt Doc Savage for the silver screen. Based on the legendary pulp comic book property, Doc Savage, the man of bronze, was raised from childhood by a team of scientists to become the original “super” hero of the 1930s. A man of great mental and physical strength, he went around the world battling larger-than-life villains.
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