Current production companies on the project are John Malkovich's Mr Mudd and Channing Tatum's Free Association, reported Variety.
Lionsgate has also hired screenwriter John Whittington, whose credits include to adapt the novel.
"Boy21" centers on the relationship between two high school seniors in a rough town ruled by the Irish mob. One takes care of his disabled grandfather and finds escape on the basketball court; the other is a former basketball star whose life has been turned upside down by tragedy.
No director or actors have been attached yet to the project.
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