Mills Goodloe and Adam Shankman directing and Paramount is developing “The Associate” with Shia LaBeouf and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura.The Handmaid’s Taleis preparing to write its final chapter. Phoenix Pictures continues to forge ahead on “Playing for Pizza,” with a script by J. An adaptation of Grisham’s nonfiction tome “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town” moved from defunct WIP to WB, with Smokehouse partners George Clooney and Grant Heslov (the picture is stalled pending a lawsuit filed by a subject in the book). “The Testament” becomes one of several Grisham legal thrillers headed for the screen. Geadelmann, who made a fortune in the health care technology business, said he and his partners can finance production but would prefer to co-finance with a studio, once they have a script that Grisham approves. The producers found development financing through 821 Entertainment, the Nashville-based financier-producer that CEO Geadelmann said is in the throes of raising $250 million in equity and debt to finance productions with “heartland appeal.” Once Johnson joined forces with Grisham’s old friend Lowry, the author said yes.

“I’ve been calling them since I read it the first time and felt it had the best of the courthouse stuff that John writes so well, plus this exotic adventure in deepest Brazil,” Johnson said. The deal for “The Testament” shows the power of persistence on the part of producer Johnson, who has kept on Grisham and his agent-editor David Gernert for the better part of a decade. He will also have the right to provide creative input, which he didn’t always have in the past - one of the factors that pushed him away from Hollywood until about three years ago, when his fans prodded him to end his self-imposed movie moratorium. Nobody pays that much for screen rights to books anymore, and Grisham will receive a six-figure option against a bigger payday if “The Testament” goes forward. That was at a time when Grisham’s thrillers were considered “can’t miss” properties.

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