Michael Chiklis has not had much success on the big screen. His most notable role was The Thing in two Fantastic Four films. He’s also played bit parts in films like Eagle Eye, Nixon and Soldier. Chiklis has made most of his living on television as the star of such shows as The Commish and The Shield.
After the cancellation of his series No Ordinary Family, Chiklis is ready to get back to work. Deadline is reporting that Chiklis has signed on to play Jason Statham’s nemesis in Parker. The thriller is based on the character created by Donald E. Westlake (writing under the alias Richard Stark). Though Westlake wrote twenty-three Parker novels this movie will be an original screenplay written by John J. McLaughlin, the co-writer of Black Swan.
With the addition of Chiklis, director Taylor Hackford has two of the three main leads. Jennifer Lopez is currently eyeing to play Parker’s lover, Claire. Clifton Collins Jr. (Capote) and Wendell Pierce (The Wire) have also joined the cast.
Parker will go before cameras in August with a release to follow sometime in 2012. Having read a few Parker novels and seeing how Mel Gibson make him more likeable with his interjection of humor in Payback, I am hopeful that Jason Statham and Taylor Hackford make it the hard-boiled film that it should be.
