Crime novelist and screenwriter Dennis Lehane has signed on to pen Sony Pictures' A Prophet remake.

We reported in June that Sony optioned the remake rights to the original French film A Prophet, which stars Tahar Rahim as an Arab man sent to a French prison, where he becomes a mafia leader. Director Jacques Audiard's drama won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2010.

Neal H. Moritz and Toby Jaffe are producing for Sony. Insiders claim that Toby Jaffe introduced Dennis Lehane to the project, believing that it fit his writing style. No director is attached at this time, and it isn't known when production may begin.

Dennis Lehane has written the novels behind hit films such as Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone and Shutter Island. In recent years, he has transitioned into screenwriting with the upcoming Animal Rescue, based on his own short story, and Travis McGee. He also wrote the novel Live by Night, which is being adapted and directed by Ben Affleck.