AceShowbiz -

John Grisham's first best-selling novel "A Time to Kill", a tale of a young white lawyer defending a black man for a revenge murder in Mississippi, will be adapted into a Broadway musical. From the Tuesday announcement made by producers Daryl Roth and Eva Prince, the play will begin preview performances on September 28 at the John Golden Theatre and open on October 20.

Tony Award winner Rupert Holmes ("Drood") has been tapped to write the play version of the 1989 book. "It was my first book and the first that I have allowed to be adapted for the theatre," says 58-year-old Grisham in a statement. "Rupert Holmes did an excellent job of translating it from the page to the stage, and I am happy that not only my loyal readers, but a whole new audience will be able to experience this story in live theatre."

Director Ethan McSweeny, who helmed the 2000 stage revival of Gore Vidal's "The Best Man", will take charge of the production. He directed the world premiere of the Grisham adaptation in May 2011 at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. As of now, neither cast nor additional creative team has been announced yet.

Published by Wynwood Press, the novel previously got a movie treatment. Directed by Joel Schumacher, the 1996 feature adaptation starred Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey and Sandra Bullock, whose performance in the film made her win a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress.