John Grisham Agrees to ‘Testament’ Film

Published by Jeff Leins on June 23, 2009

John Grisham has finally agreed to an adaptation of his 1999 New York Times Bestseller The Testament.  The author will receive a six figure payment for the rights and additional control over the production including script approval.

It’s another legal drama, this time about a man who leaves his $11 billion fortune to an illegitimate daughter doing charity work in Brazil.  It’s about a down and out lawyer who helps her keep the money in a battle against the billionaire’s greedy relatives.

Grisham was once a bankable Hollywood player in movie stories from 1993 to 2003, including hits like The Firm, A Time to Kill, and The Rainmaker.  His books helped turn many of today’s stars into A-listers, helping the rising careers of Tom Cruise, Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Matt Damon, and more.  But he lost control of his novels somewhere around 2004 when Christmas with the Kranks was an embarrassment and he left Hollywood.  This deal will allow him to handle its adaptation a bit more, while marking an impressive halfway point in turning his 22 fiction novels into films.  The Associate is also in development.

I was once an avid reader of Grisham novels, but I think I dropped off the legal kick when I became old enough to serve on a jury.  That doesn’t mean I won’t watch the movie though, if I have time to kill.  Wow, literary humor…