This year marks a decade since Adrian Lyne last released a movie (that would be Diane Lane / Richard Gere / Olivier Martinez bonk triangle Unfaithful), but it hasn’t been for want of tying. He’s developed projects here and there through the years, but nothing has seemed to come of them until recently. And now he’s circling a likely prospect with John Grisham adaptation The Associate for Paramount.
The legal drama, which finds a Yale graduate coerced into taking a job with a big law firm after he learns crucial information about a big case, has had its own stumbles on the road to the screen. Back in 2008, Shia LaBeouf was attached to star as the main character, with Tony Scott showing interest in 2010, attracted by a script from William Monahan. But the deals never quite worked out.
Enter Lyne, for whom “briefs” in a film usually means underwear and the shedding thereof. He’s been working up family drama Back Roads with Andrew Garfield and Jennifer Garner attached, which is still listed on the IMDb as in pre-production. But Variety’s report on The Associate mentions that Paramount also wants the once and future Spider-Man to star in the Grisham film once he’s finished his run in Death Of A Salesman on Broadway, so there’s a chance that everyone’s attention could switch to the new project...