John Lee Hancock got a massive boost when, last night, Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson became the top names for his next film, the Walt Disney-centered Saving Mr. Banks. In other words, don’t feel bad that The Partner is no longer in his hands.

Jumping full-force into the John Grisham realm, Variety now brings news that Mark Wahlberg is in talks for New Regency’s legal thriller — which he would not only lead, but also produce through Leverage Management with his frequent creative (for lack of a better term) partner, Stephen Levinson.

Grisham‘s original novel would have Wahlberg play Patrick Lanigan, a Southern lawyer who — despite a white collar lifestyle, a wife, and a daughter — steals $90 million from his own firm and goes on the run. This, of course, isn’t without heavy consequences, and Lanigan has to avoid some tough pursuers on his way out.

A family man with relative strength, forced to go on the run and avoid some unsavory characters — not Contraband again, but something Wahlberg has wrapped his head around a couple of times already. He’ll do a fine (if not particularly awe-inspiring) job with the material, and that’s basically what I expect from The Partner as a whole piece.

You can read a longer synopsis below (via Amazon):

“They watched Danilo Silva for days before they finally grabbed him. He was living alone, a quiet life on a shady street in Brazil; a simple life in a modest home, certainly not one of luxury. Certainly no evidence of the fortune they thought he had stolen. He was much thinner and his face had been altered. He spoke a different language, and spoke it very well. But Danilo had a past with many chapters. Four years earlier he had been Patrick Lanigan, a young partner in a prominent Biloxi law firm. He had a pretty wife, a new daughter, and a bright future. Then one cold winter night Patrick was trapped in a burning car and died a horrible death. When he was buried his casket held nothing more than his ashes.From a short distance away, Patrick watched his own burial. Then he fled. Six weeks later, a fortune was stolen from his ex-law firm’s offshore account. And Patrick fled some more.But they found him.”

What do you make of Wahlberg leading The Partner?