June 5, 2025
Will Leitch (BS 鈥�98, journalism), author, sportswriter, contributing editor for and podcast co-host, will serve as executive producer of the movie adaptation of his latest novel .
Lionsgate purchased the rights to the novel, published by Harper in May, which focuses on Lloyd McNeil, a beat cop in Atlanta who only has months to live. When McNeil learns his teenage son would receive a higher pension if he died in the line of duty, he devises a plan.
鈥淲ith audiences desperate for more original and authentic stories worthy of the big screen, we couldn鈥檛 be more excited to be the home for Will Leitch鈥檚 truly original tale following the indelible Lloyd McNeil,鈥� said Erin Westerman, co-president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. 鈥淭hrough action, humor, and great pathos, his book serves at once as both a manual and an inspiration for how to live life to the fullest.鈥�
Leitch, also the author of听 (praised by Stephen King as 鈥渁听fantastic novel鈥�), is a former sports editor for The听Daily Illini听and was inducted into the听听in 2022.