As the last movie he directed is one of my personal favorites (mostly because I'm in love with Diane Lane), I welcome the possibility of Adrian Lyne returning to the director's chair.  His last go round was in 2002's Unfaithful, for which Lane received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination.  Lyne is reportedly now in negotiations to direct the adaptation of John Grisham's The Associate for Paramount.  The twisting and turning plot follows a young lawyer who is blackmailed by a number of organizations who each have their own nefarious interests in mind.  The picture previously had Tony Scott attached to direct with Shia LaBeouf starring and Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing.  Only di Bonaventura remains attached. Hit the jump for more. Variety reports that Lyne is in talks to direct The Associate from a script originally drafted by William Monahan. Scott and LaBeouf had dropped out of the picture due to an irreconcilable budget issue with the studio.  (The new budget projection is reportedly in the area of $25-30 million.)  Paramount is in the process of finding a replacement for LaBeouf and has its eyes set on none other than your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, Andrew Garfield.  The studio will have to wait until Garfield's Broadway run of "Death of a Salesman" is over this summer before moving forward, but there is another interesting twist to this tale.  Lyne is indeed attached to direct a film this year, but the film in question is actually Back Roads, the murder-mystery drama that tells the story of a young man who is forced to take care of his three sisters after his mother is sent to prison for murdering their abusive father. That young man just so happens to be none other than Mr. Garfield himself.  Perhaps any chemistry forged between actor and director on set will translate into Garfield stepping into The Associate. Any Grisham fans out there, feel free to speculate on how you think he would do.