Matthew McConaughey in talks to reprise lead role in 'A Time to Kill' sequel for HBO

Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey got his breakthrough performance in 1996 released film A Time to Kill. Now, the actor might be getting to make his return as Jake Brigance in a sequel film. It will be after 25 years that McConaughey will take on his acclaimed character once again.

A Time to Kill sequel in development 

Deadline reported that HBO has acquired the rights to the John Grisham novel, A Time for Mercy. It is a sequel to the author’s classic novel on which the 1996 film was based on. The makers are developing the book as a limited series and Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey is in final negotiations to reprise the role of defense attorney, Jake Brigance.

A Time for Mercy is speculated to be an eight to 10 episodes series. Lorenzo di Bonaventure, who served as Warner Bros. executive in the 90s when the first film was greenlighted, is on to produce A Time to Kill sequel. HBO is meeting with writers to adapt the show and no director is attached yet.

The original novel takes place in Clanton, MS, and followed a fearless young lawyer as he defends a Black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his 10-year-old daughter. The case turns the small town into a lot of tension that includes inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan. The novel was another hit by John Grisham, and Warner Bros. quickly moved to turn the book into a movie. They bought the late Joel Schumacher to direct and set an A-list cast to star in the film. The movie is filled with acclaimed actors like Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Kiefer, and Donald Sutherland. But Schumacher decided to get Matthew McConaughey — a relatively unknown name at the time — to play the lead. A Time to Kill became a hit and put McConaughey in the race of leading men and is considered one of the best adaptations of Grisham's work.  

In A Time for Mercy, Jake Brigance finds himself involved in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. Many in Clanton want a swift trial and the death penalty, but Brigance digs in and discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye. Brigance’s fierce commitment to saving Drew from the gas chamber puts his career and the safety of his family on the line.