John Lee Hancock Archives - Page 2 of 2

A few days ago is was revealed that Disney was busy tying up the rights to the script Saving Mr. Banks, with Tom Hanks rumored to play Walt Disney and Meryl Streep as P.L. Travers. Now Deadline reports that Blind Side helmer John Lee Hancock is in early negotiations to direct.

The project tells the story of how Walt Disney waged a 14-year courtship to persuade Australian author P.L. Travers to sell him rights to make a film out of Mary Poppins. The author felt incredibly protective over her story of a nanny with magical powers, which reflected hardships in her own life and her relationship with her father, who died when she was seven. Disney finally convinced her to let him make the film, but she was apparently less than pleased with the animated portions of the finished film.

It’s not known when the movie will shoot, but it seems Disney is moving fast to put all the pieces in place.

Things have been fairly quiet on the John Grisham adaptation front recently. In the 90s you couldn’t move for them, but since then they’ve become rare beasts. However, now Deadline reports that director John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side, The Rookie) has signed on to write and direct as adaptation of Grisham’s The Partner.

The author’s 2005 book is about a young Mississippi attorney who fakes his own death in order to swindle millions of dollars from his law firm.

Arnon Milchan, who heads New Regency (the production company behind the movie), has plenty of Grisham experience as he previously wrote the adaptations The Client, A Time to Kill, and Runaway Jury.

No production schedule is known for The Partner. It is said that John Lee Hancock is also circling Highwaymen, which he might direct before The Partner.

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:
DIRECTORS: John Lee Hancock FILMS: The Partner

John Lee Hancock To Direct Saving Mr. Banks

Blind Side Director Takes On Grisham’s The Partner