Matthew McConaughey to Reprise the Role That Kicked Off His Career!

Matthew McConaughey is taking on the role that helped to propel his career!

The 51-year-old actor is set to star in HBO’s limited series A Time for Mercy, the sequel to the classic John Grisham novel A Time To Kill, Deadline reported on Thursday (March 18).

25 years ago, Matthew starred in A Time To Kill in the role of defense attorney, Jake Brigance.

According to the report, the series would be 8-10 episodes with Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who was a Warner Bros. executive when A Time to Kill was greenlit in the 1990s, to produce.

Here’s more on the story: “The original novel was set in Clanton, Mississippi and followed a fearless young lawyer as he defends a black man accused of murdering two white men who raped his ten-year-old daughter. The case turned the small town into a boilerplate of tension that includes the inciting violent retribution and revenge from the Ku Klux Klan. The novel was another Grisham hit and Warner Bros. quickly moved to turn the book into a movie, tapping the late Joel Schumacher to direct and setting an A-list cast to star in the film.”

The film is considered to be one that put Matthew on the map in Hollywood, who was a relative unknown at the time.

Here’s a plot summary for A Time For Mercy: “Brigance finds himself embroiled in a deeply divisive trial when the court appoints him attorney for Drew Gamble, a timid sixteen-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.”

A Time For Mercy is the third book to feature the Brigance character, following Sycamore Row, which was released in 2013.

“There was never a discussion to adapt that book but when Grisham made it be known that a third Brigance novel was on its way in 2020, McConaughey was drawn to the idea of returning to the role that helped launch his career,” the outlet reported.

“As for the decision to go the limited series route rather then make it into a film, the decision was made to allow the whole story to unfold and dive deeper into all the characters involved in the book rather then cut corners in a two hour movie.”

No director is attached to the project yet, nor any writers. A production start time is still to be determined.

Matthew also teased the possibility of doing this next in his career.