Netflix Spenser Movie Title Change

© by Gerald So | 7:00 AM

Netflix, Robert B. Parker's estate, producer-star Mark Wahlberg, and director Peter Berg announced a Spenser movie deal June 26. 2018. I've rounded up details since then, and yesterday I learned the movie's title has changed from Wonderland to Spenser Confidential.

This seems a move to identify more closely with Parker's character yet not quite with 1980s TV's Spenser: For Hire. Since Brian Helgeland has rewritten the script, though, the new title brings to mind his work on the movie L.A. Confidential.

At least the title change reflects what I previously gathered: the movie includes a few aspects with Ace Atkins' 2012 continuation novel, Robert B. Parker's Wonderland, but largely departs from it.

My friend Nikki Dolson found the synopsis on Twitter:

SPENSER CONFIDENTIAL: Mark Wahlberg reteams with director Peter Berg to play an ex-cop, Spenser, who moves in with Hawk (Winston Duke), an aspiring MMA fighter with his own rap sheet. Between gym rounds, the duo’s taunts turn to trust, and they team up to solve a double homicide.

— Netflix Film (@NetflixFilm) January 3, 2020

Some re-imagining to be sure, but the basis sounds true to the books, where Spenser and Hawk often boxed on the same card and were trained by Henry Cimoli. In the Wonderland novel, thugs beat Henry, trying to scare him out of his condo so a developer can turn the land into a casino. If Spenser and Hawk are living with Henry at the time, as the movie's Wikipedia entry details, that raises the stakes for them. The movie wants to show the formation of Spenser and Hawk's friendship, not shown in the books. This neither seems the ideal approach nor a total miss.

In a phone interview with Ed Robertson for the November 25, 2019 episode of TV Confidential, actor James DuMont spoke positively of his experience on the movie, claiming Wahlberg captured Spenser's morality and working-class heroism. According to DuMont, if the movie does well, two more are planned. Three would give Wahlberg's Spenser more time to match Parker's and Atkins'.

The movie teaser has hit Twitter.

In addition to watching premiere day March 6, I'm planning to live-tweet the movie Wednesday, March 11, at 7:30 PM U.S. Eastern. Follow @g_so.