Lethal Weapon Writer Reignites Movie Adaptation For Popular 57-Year-Old Action Book Series After Multiple Failed Attempts

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Lethal Weapon writer Shane Black is reigniting a long-dormant movie adaptation.

The writer is finally involved in a movie adaptation of a well-known action book series that’s been in development for 57 years, after several previous efforts fell through. They have a strong background in action films, having written Lethal Weapon and both written and directed The Nice Guys, The Predator, and Play Dirty – though these projects experienced different levels of success.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Craig Black will be writing a screenplay based on The Executioner book series, originally created by Don Pendleton with contributions from multiple authors. Black is also potentially set to direct the adaptation. He’s collaborating on the script with Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, and will be working alongside producer Joel Silver, as well as Don Murphy and Susan Montford from Angry Films.

As a huge cinema fan, I’ve known about plans for a The Executioner movie for years – it’s been tried so many times! People have been wanting to adapt it since the early 70s, and there’s a fascinating history of near-misses. I remember hearing about one version William Friedkin wrote, envisioning Sylvester Stallone and Cynthia Rothrock in the leads. More recently, Shane Salerno had a go with Warner Bros., hoping Bradley Cooper would take the role. It’s a project that just keeps resurfacing, and I’m always curious to see what form it might finally take.

What Is The Executioner Series?

Sony has obtained the rights to produce a new version of The Executioner book series. Originally created by Donald Pendleton in 1969, the series was later written by a team of authors. For over 50 years, new books were published almost every month, until the series concluded in 2020.

The Executioner series, similar to action franchises like Jason Bourne or John Wick, centers around the adventures of Mack Bolan as he battles organized crime and terrorist groups. The main series consists of 464 books published over 51 years. In addition, there are 178 “Super Bolan” books – longer, bi-monthly releases – bringing the total number of books even higher.

Previous efforts to bring The Executioner to the screen haven’t succeeded, but now that Sony owns the rights to the entire book series, there’s more potential for a comprehensive adaptation. It’s still unknown who might star as Bolan or which stories will be told, but with decades of source material and hundreds of books available, the possibilities are vast.

Why Shane Black Is Perfect For The Executioner Movie

Shane Black is a natural choice to direct The Executioner because of his strong background in action films. Beyond the popular Lethal Weapon series, he’s proven his talent with hits like The Nice Guys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, demonstrating his ability to create compelling characters and exciting action. Even in films that weren’t huge critical successes, like The Predator, his skill is evident.

Beyond the thrills, The Executioner is exciting because it reunites director Black with producer Silver – they’ve collaborated on four films previously. Black also worked with writers Bagarozzi and Mondry on his recent movie, Dirty Money. This writing duo is well-known for the Road House reboot on Prime Video, which quickly became a popular streaming success.

Since the movie The Executioner is still in early stages of development, we won’t hear much from the Lethal Weapon writer about his plans for it for a while. However, given his experience with action films, it’s a natural fit for him to be involved in adapting the book series.

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2026-03-26 16:08