Back in 2008 Shia LaBeouf was set to star in an adaptation of John Grisham’s The Associate. A lot has happened since then, not least LaBeouf going, well, a bit nuts. While the former Transformers star has moved on, the idea of an Associate film is still alive.

Now THR reports Zac Efron has decided star in a film version, but he’s also stepping up into the producers circle for the movie.

So what’s the story about? Well the description of the book on Amazon says, ‘Kyle McAvoy possesses an outstanding legal mind. Good-looking and affable, he has a glittering future. He also has a dark secret that could destroy his dreams, his career, even his life. One night that secret catches up with him. The men who accost Kyle have a compromising video they’ll use to ruin him–unless he does exactly what they say. What they offer Kyle is something any ambitious young lawyer would kill for: a job in Manhattan as an associate at the world’s largest law firm. If Kyle accepts, he’ll be on the fast track to partnership and a fortune. But there’s a catch. Kyle won’t be working for the firm but against it in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions. Now Kyle is caught between the criminal forces manipulating him, the FBI, and his own law firm–in a malignant conspiracy not even Kyle with all his intellect, cunning, and bravery may be able to escape alive.’

It’s sounds like typical Grisham fodder (and a bit to close to the recent Paranoia), but it worked for the likes of Tom Cruise, Denzel Washington, Matthew McConaughey and Matt Damon, so there’s no reason it won’t for Efron.

Things are still at an early stage though, as a screenwriter is currently being sought and it doesn’t seem a director is currently attached.