The novel written by John Grisham in 1997 has been in development for an adaptation for quite a long time and now it has finally found a director to helm the project.
Deadline has reported that John Lee Hancock, who previously worked on The Blind Side, has been hired to work on the project through New Regency.
The official plot of The Partner is as follows:
They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very well.But Danilo had a past with many chapters. Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes.From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm’s offshore account. And Patrick fled some more. But they found him.
Grisham has famously had several of his novels turn into not just feature films but also into television series.
- His adapted feature films include:
- The Firm (1993)
- The Pelican Brief (1993)
- The Client (1994)
- A Time to Kill (1996)
- The Chamber (1996)
- The Rainmaker (1997)
- The Gingerbread Man (1998)
- A Painted House (2003) television film
- Runaway Jury (2003)
- Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
- The Last Juror (2013)
- His television adaptations include:
- The Client (1995–1996) 1 season, 20 episodes
- The Street Lawyer (2003) TV pilot
- The Firm (2011–2012), 22 episodes ordered
It was also reported that Hancock is also in the running to direct the upcoming Bonnie and Clyde film entitled, Highwaymen.
There is no word on who the studio wants to star in the production or when the production is expected to be released.