A television series based on Gregory David Roberts Mumbai-set novel, "Shantaram", is in the works.
Paramount Television and its frequent collaborator Anonymous Content have landed the rights to the best-selling novel after a month-long, multiple outlet bidding war, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The mob drama was previously supposed to be a feature film, featuring Joel Edgerton and Amitabh Bachchan, with Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt as producers and Mira Nair as director.
The two companies have also acquired the rights to Roberts' follow-up novel, "The Mountain Shadow".
Anonymous Content's Nicole Clemens and Steve Golin, and Andrea Barron will executive produce.
"As a huge admirer of the material, I've been tracking this book for more than a decade," Golin said in a statement.
"Shantaram" is a semi-autobiographical novel about an escaped Australian convict who finally ends up in Mumbai's underworld.
Roberts said, "I'm honored and humbled in equal measure as a writer, and thrilled for the many readers who have hoped that 'Shantaram' would become a vivid screen experience.
"Television is the perfect medium for the novel, and Steve Golin and Nicole Clemens at Anonymous Content are the perfect partners.
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