Hollywood is set to have another John Grisham adaptation, with actor-filmmaker Jason Bateman attached as the director for a film based on Grisham's 1997 novel The Partner. According to reports, Tom Holland is in negotiations to star in the film. The plot follows a lawyer at a well-established firm faking his death to steal a whopping sum of $90 million in favour of one of his dodgy customers. There have been multiple film adaptations of Grisham novels in Hollywood, such as A Time to Kill and The Firm, to name some.

Hollywood had considered an adaptation of John Grisham's The Partner before as well, with John Lee Hancock of The Blind Side fame attached to direct it from a Graham Moore screenplay. The potential Hancock directorial was then moved from New Regency to Universal Pictures, which is backing the latest Bateman version.

Michael Costigan of Aggregate Films is producing the film, which will also have Bateman serving as an executive producer. Tom Holland is producing it through his Billy 17 banner, along with Will South and Harry Holland.

Universal Pictures' production development department's Senior Vice President and Director Ryan Jones and Jacqueline Garell, respectively, are overseeing the film project for it.

Bateman stars in the recently released Netflix thriller Black Rabbit, alongside Jude Law. He also directed a couple of Black Rabbit episodes. As a director, his feature film credits include The Family Fang and Bad Words. In 2019, Bateman won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for his work on Netflix's Ozark.

Holland, meanwhile, has multiple projects in the near future, including The Odyssey with Christopher Nolan and Spider-Man: Brand New Day.