According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth has been tapped to adapt the Gregory David Roberts novel Shantaram for Warner Bros. Pictures and Initial Entertainment Group.

Set in the 1980s and based on loosely on Roberts' life, the story centers on an Australian heroin addict convicted of robbery who escapes to India, where he reinvents himself as a doctor. When he gets involved in smuggling and gunrunning, his adventurous life leads him to Afghanistan and battles with Russians.

Roberts wrote the initial draft. The book was acquired in October 2004 in a $2 million purchase by Warners and Initial.