John Grisham's 'The Associate' to Star Zac Efron

It's unfortunate that so few people saw Ramin Bahrani's At Any Price last year because it was arguably Zac Efron's best dramatic performance yet. It's a low bar, admittedly, but clearly an effort is being made to prove he's more than just a pretty face. Now he'll give it another shot by starring in the latest John Grisham adaptation.

Efron will star in and produce The Associate, a project that has been percolating for a few years now. Shia LaBeouf was once attached back when Tony Scott was circling the directing gig, but that fell through and Adrian Lyne was briefly involved. Now a new writer is being sought before sending this out to studios and potential directors. Published in 2009, the story "follows a Yale Law School grad (Efron) who is blackmailed by a group of criminals. He's told he must take a job at the world’s largest law firm, where he'll be spying on their work in a dispute between two powerful defense contractors worth billions."

Starring in Grisham adaptations is basically a rite of passage for future stars. Look what it did for Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, and Matthew McConaughey. So we'll see if The Associate can do the same for Efron. [THR]