After spending a decade writing all but one of the scripts for the Harry Potter movies, Steve Kloves is keen to take on a directing project. He helmed The Fabulous Baker Boys and Flesh & Bone back in the late 80s and early 90s, and is now using his Hogwarts clout to get another directing gig. A couple of weeks ago he signed on to make a new version of The Jungle Book, and now Variety reports he’s set to write and direct the legal thriller, Defending Jacob.

Based on William Landay’s novel, which has been compared to Presumed Innocent and Ordinary People, the story is set in an upperclass Boston suburb, and follows a district attorney who takes time away from his job in order to defend his son, who’s been charged with murder. However, while he’s prepared to help his kid, he’s less than certain over just how innocent his son is. That could certainly make for a potentially interesting film.

Defending Jacoc is very different to Harry Potter, but with those films Kloves showed he was very good at suspense, something that will certainly be needed here.

Now that Harry Potter is over, Warner is keen to stay in business with the team that brought the franchise to life, which includes Steve Kloves, who wrote seven of the eight screenplays for the magical movies. Now Deadline reports that the studio is backing Kloves to write and direct a live action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

Kipling’s 1894 book has been the subject of numerous adaptations, most famously Disney’s animated 1967 version, along with a 1994 live-action rendition, which starred Jason Scott Lee. The novel follows the adventures of Mowgli, who is brought up by wolves and has various interactions with jungle animals, both good and bad.

As well as Harry Potter, Kloves also had a hand in writing The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as Warner’s now-delayed Akira. It won’t be his first directorial outing, as Kloves has previously made The Fabulous Baker Boys and Flesh and Bone, but hasn’t helmed a movie since 1993.