Jason Bateman teams with Tom Holland for The Partner — and says directing blew his mind
Jason Bateman reveals the curveball that came with guiding Tom Holland’s new big-screen venture, The Partner — and how it reshaped the film’s direction.
Tom Holland has Christopher Nolan 's The Odyssey looming, sure. But the sneakier swing he just took might be even more interesting: a John Grisham adaptation called The Partner, with Jason Bateman directing. It is a sharp match of star, material, and filmmaker, and the behind-the-scenes wrinkle is a good one.
The package
- Director: Jason Bateman
- Star/Producer: Tom Holland as Patrick Lanigan
- Studio: Universal Pictures
- Screenplay: Graham Moore (yes, the Oscar- winning writer) is adapting the book
- Source: John Grisham's 1997 bestseller, his eighth novel
- Premise: A young hotshot attorney in Biloxi, Mississippi fakes his own death in a brutal car crash and vanishes with $90 million that he lifted from a corrupt client. What follows is equal parts legal knife fight and international chase
Bateman talked to Deadline about how they are approaching it now, not as a time capsule of late-90s Grisham but as a contemporary thriller. He also dropped the key tidbit that Holland was the one who brought him the project — a notable bit of development intel that explains why Holland is also producing.
"What does it look like today? Tom is going to be a great partner throughout. He brought it our way, and so I’m looking forward to collaborating with him."
That quote landed while Bateman is on a real heater. He has two limited series getting awards attention: HBO Max 's DTF St. Louis, where he plays an unsuspecting weatherman pulled into a murder mystery alongside David Harbour and Linda Cardellini; and Netflix 's Black Rabbit, where he stars as a troubled gambler opposite Jude Law. He also directed Black Rabbit and has been getting industry recognition for the work behind the camera. Given the crime- drama lane he has been thriving in, Grisham territory feels like a natural extension.
Why Holland as Patrick Lanigan actually makes sense
Lanigan is not your standard white-hat hero. He is brilliant, slippery, and always two steps ahead — the guy who rigs the board before anyone realizes there is a game. That gives Holland a chance to lean into ambiguity in a way we have not often seen in his lead roles. If he hits the charm-deception-vulnerability mix, this could be one of those career-left-turn performances people point to later.
How this could play on screen
With Bateman steering and Moore adapting, this has a real shot to be more than a courtroom potboiler. Think streamlined, character-first suspense where the conversations are clues and the payoffs land with that verdict thud. Also, the fact that Holland championed the project from the jump suggests the team is aligned on tone and focus — always a good sign for a thriller that lives or dies on precision.
I am into this pairing. Holland chasing a morally gray operator, Bateman threading legal strategy with chase-movie momentum — it just tracks. What do you want to see from their take on Patrick Lanigan?