Snipes’ ‘The Player’ At Comic Con

Is Wesley Snipes about to become busier again? Finally some news on what the guy is actually up to, post-Expendables 3. The Player is a new venture for him.

The Player, a Las Vegas-set action thriller, starring Snipes, hails from the team behind NBC hit The Blacklist. The series follows a former military operative-turned-security expert (Philip Winchester) who is drawn into a high-stakes game where an organization of wealthy individuals gamble on his ability to stop some of the biggest crimes imaginable from playing out.

Apparently the series will have a revenge slant going on, with Snipes motivated by the death of his wife. Writer John Rogers, John Davis, John Fox and director Bharat Nalluri are all executive producers.  The feature has shown up at Comic-Con, with Snipes there to promote.

Here is a report from Collider on what was discussed.

Rogers described himself as a pulp writer, and wanted to make a show that would stand out in an age of serialized story telling, saying that The Player should feel like a new show every week. He cited The X-Files as an example of a show that surprised you week after week

-Rogers promised that the world established in the pilot “goes deep”.

-Both Snipes and Winchester said they were attracted to the writing with Snipes calling it one of the best action-oriented scripts he read that year, including films.

-Rogers was a big Strike Back fan and geeked out a little bit during Winchester’s interview.
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-On his mysterious character Mr. Johnson, Snipes said he’s the kind of character you can imagine Terrence Stamp playing.

-Mr. Johnson is a morally ambiguous man wrapped in a power struggle. Rogers said that every week you’re not going to know if he’s a good guy or a bad guy.

-The actors try to do as man of the stunts as they’re allowed to and train every day to keep in the shape they need to be to pull that off.

-Rogers promised a balance of big weekly action beats with strong character elements and plot twists, saying you’ve never seen stunts like what they’re doing on television before.

The Player is pulling off a rare feat in film production by filming in LA. Some exterior shots were filmed in Las Vegas, but they wanted to base production in LA to take advantage of the infrastructure and stunt teams available there.  With news that Snipes is set for Blade IV, hopefully the man is on a comeback.