Lawrence Hill’s forthcoming novel ‘The Illegal’ to get film treatment

TORONTO – Celebrated Canadian writer Lawrence Hill’s fourth novel, “The Illegal,” hasn’t come out yet but it’s already destined for film fame.

Conquering Lion Pictures says it’s acquired the film rights to the book, which is set to hit shelves on Sept. 8.

That’s the same production company that adapted Hill’s award-winning CBC & BET miniseries “The Book of Negroes.”

Producer Damon D’Oliveira and director Clement Virgo, both of Conquering Lion, will also be collaborating on the new project.

Hill, who won a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for “The Book of Negroes,” will write the screenplay.

“The Illegal” (HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.) follows a young marathon runner as he flees his native Zantoroland and settles in an underground community of undocumented refugees in Freedom State.