After a 10-year absence from the helm of a studio project, Adrian Lyne (“Fatal Attraction,” “Flashdance”) is in talks to direct the John Grisham adaptation of “The Associate” for Paramount.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce through his Di Bonaventura Pictures banner.
William Monahan penned the original draft about a recent Yale grad coerced into taking a job with a prestige firm after he’s given information about a multibillion-dollar case.
Project, which has been sitting in development limbo for some time, originally had Shia LaBeouf starring and Tony Scott possibly directing. But the studio could never figure out a budget and that plan fell through.
With a budget finally set by the studio in the $25 million-$30 million range, Paramount will now look to find its star. While no offers or meetings have taken place yet, several sources say the studio is high on Andrew Garfield for the role after he finishes his stint in the Broadway play “Death of a Salesman” this summer.
Lyne, repped by WME, hasn’t directed a big studio pic since 2002’s “Unfaithful.”
