After earning a strong reputation with his Swedish film Snabba cash, director Daniel Espinosa arrived in Hollywood with a solid bang. Last year saw the release of his first American feature, Safe House with Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington, and the movie was a bona fide hit, managing to make over $200 million at the global box office, and he has been in demand since. He is currently attached to direct both the World War II Yakuza thriller The Outsider and the Russian-set crime drama Child 44, but now he's added another film to his upcoming slate.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Espinosa is now developing an adaptation of John Grisham's The Racketeer as a directing vehicle at Fox 2000 and New Regency. Featuring similar themes to the best selling author's other works, the story begins when a federal judge is murdered at his lakeside cabin. Unfortunately, the only person who has any information regarding the crime is an imprisoned former attorney who plans to use his new position of power to get revenge on those that sent him to prison. The book is Grisham's latest, having hit bookshelves last October, and the movie will be the first feature adaptation of one of his works since 2004's Christmas With The Kranks (though a short-lived television series based on The Firm was on NBC last year).
How fast the project will come together remains up in the air. They are currently looking for a writer to adapt the story and the trade doesn't mention a production start date. Given that Tom Hardy and Noomi Rapace both recently signed on for Child 44, there's a fair chance that Espinosa will make that his next project.
