The partnership of Tom Holland and Jason Bateman is set, as the two are teaming up for a film adaptation of a best-selling John Grisham novel.
Deadline first reported on Oct. 2 that Bateman is lining up to direct Universal Studios’ The Partner, based on Grisham’s 1997 legal thriller. He joins Holland, who is expected to star in and produce. Bateman will also serve as an executive producer through his Aggregate Films production company.
Holland signed on to The Partner back in January 2025, when it was also announced that Graham Moore, the Oscar-winning scribe of The Imitation Game, would pen the script. No other casting has been announced, and no release date has been set as of writing.
The Partner tells the story of Patrick Lanigan (Holland), a young partner in an upscale but crooked law firm. In an attempt to start a new life, Lanigan steals $90 million from a client, fakes his death, and heads to South America. However, when the client learns his money has been stolen, he refuses to believe that Lanigan is dead and is determined to track him down, throwing a wrench in Lanigan’s plans.
This will be Bateman’s third feature directorial effort, following 2013’s Bad Words and 2015’s The Family Fang. In the 10 years since Bateman last directed a feature, he has directed TV, including winning an Emmy for his direction on his hit Netflix series Ozark, as well as directing two episodes of his latest Netflix series, Black Rabbit.
It is unclear at this time when production on The Partner will get underway, but Holland is currently in production on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which has a July 31, 2026, release date. Holland also stars in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, which has a July 17, 2026, release date. Fans have also been wondering about Holland’s future as Spider-Man, and whether he will appear in the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars, which he is currently not confirmed to be in.
The Partner is the latest work from legal thriller author to get the big screen treatment. Ten of John Grisham’s novels have previously been turned into films, including box office hits like The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and A Time to Kill. The Partner is the first Grisham work that is being adapted as a movie since 2004, when his Christmas-themed novel, Skipping Christmas, became 2004’s Christmas with the Kranks.
- Birthdate
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January 14, 1969
- Birthplace
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Rye, New York, USA