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Marc Forster Adapting Robert Ludlum's Chancellor Manuscript

by Ethan Anderton
January 14, 2010

After the Bourne series took off to create a new style of action films, author Robert Ludlum's library of titles made him the Philip K. Dick of politically charged action thrillers as more than a few of his books have been optioned for a jump to the big screen. Go ahead and toss another one into the ring as Variety reports director Marc Forster is attached to direct The Chancellor Manuscript, based on the 1977 novel of the same name about the "alleged" secret files of J. Edgar Hoover, their disappearance after his death, and how they could be used to backmail the powerful to do the bidding of those with the secrets. Sounds fascinating.

In the somewhat meta story, Peter Chancellor turns in a novel about D.C. power brokers who have been blackmailed into altering U.S. policies only to have operatives get their hands on the manuscript, thinking that he has uncovered their actual scheme and try to hunt the author down. This Hitchcockian project is apparently being developed as a Leonardo DiCaprio vehicle, but since it's still early on, anything could happen. It's a shame that Ludlum died back in 2001, because I'd never get tired of adaptations if they came from his novels. Let's just hope this one gets a greenlight unlike David Cronenberg's The Matarese Circle.

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