THE PARTNER: Jason Bateman in Negotiations to Direct Upcoming John Grisham Thriller
Jason Bateman in Talks to Helm Legal Thriller
Jason Bateman will most likely be making a third film as a director with the upcoming Universal legal drama, The Partner.
Jason Bateman is probably best known for his work on television and for doing a principal voice role in the animated Disney film, Zootopia. Now, the funnyman is positioned to be behind the camera for one of the most highly anticipated upcoming thrillers, The Partner. Tom Holland is expected to star in and co-produce the new John Grisham adaptation that is Universal’s The Partner. This film is based on a 1997 novel by Grisham that received great recognition when it was released. Of the book, review giant, Kirkus Reviews wrote, “Grisham comes up with a masterfully bittersweet end…” Graham Moore will be adapting the book to the screen.
Tom Holland should most likely play the title role in the new thriller. Holland would portray Patrick, a young professional lawyer who fakes his death after leaving his family behind. Patrick proceeds to steal millions of dollars of dirty money from a crooked client who ends up noticing the money is missing and becomes determined to find the presumably “dead” Patrick. This leads Patrick to have to come forward and deal with a very dangerous situation. Expect the twists and turns to mount as the premise is played out on-screen and Bateman is the perfect choice to helm such a project given his extensive experiences in television and film both behind the camera and in front of it.
Bateman has almost always been underappreciated as a film actor and maker despite his success on television with the terrific shows, “Arrested Development” and “Ozark.” Sure, he’s appeared in hits (and an occasional miss here and there), but the actor struggled to find much critical success as a leading man in his comedies and when he does have a theatrical hit, Hollywood doesn’t seem to reward him with enough accolades. Bateman previously directed the little seen film, Bad Words. He recently played the wickedly evil role of his career in the action thriller, Carry-On for Netflix. Bateman’s cast-against-type performance turned out to play like gangbusters with viewers.
Bateman’s box-office hits include Horrible Bosses, Game Night, Identity Thief, Air, and Zootopia. Bateman’s fine supporting work in one of 2023’s best films, Air, went mostly overlooked although at least a few critics did give him respect in their reviews by mentioning his stellar work as a performer.
Grisham adaptations have been more hits than misses at the box-office and were especially popular back in the mid-to-late 1990’s around the time the book, The Partner, was written. With Holland and Bateman attached to the forthcoming film project, expect curiosity in the movie to be at a high level. Look for more news on this project as it develops. This, as stated, will be Bateman’s third film as a director.
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