According to The Wrap, Treehouse Pictures has acquired the rights to John Grisham’s New York Times bestselling 2010 novel The Confession, which tells the story of the fight to free a black man on death row who has been wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a high school cheerleader after a forced confession.
The Amazon description for the book, which has sold over 40 million copies, reads:
Travis Boyette is a murderer. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high-school cheerleader. He buried her body where it would never be found, then watched and waited as police and prosecutors arrested Donte Drumm, a black local football star with no connection to the crime. Tried, convicted and sentenced, Drumm was sent to death row.
Nine years later, Donte Drumm is four days from execution. Over 400 miles away in Kansas, Travis also faecs death, suffering from an inoperable brain tumour. At long last, he decides to do what’s right. After years of silence, he is ready to confess. But the law doesn’t want to hear it. As far as they’re concerned, they’ve got their man.
“With ‘The Confession,’ we saw a chance to create an edge-of-your-seat thriller about injustice and the value of life at a time when many of the themes are so relevant,” said Treehouse Pictures President Justin Nappi. “We are excited to find the right team to bring this novel to life. It’s a story that will stay with the viewer long after the credits roll.”
The Confession will become the eleventh feature adaptation of Grisham’s books after The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Gingerbread Man, Runaway Jury, Mickey, and Christmas with the Kranks.
Originally published July 29, 2019. Updated July 28, 2019.
