John Grisham thriller The Testament being adapted into a film

John Grisham, who for ten years refused to sell movie rights to his 1999 bestselling novel The Testament, has apparently had a change of heart, according to Variety. Producers Mark Johnson and Hunt Lowry, along with 821 Entertainment, have optioned the book, which revolves around a billionaire who defies his greedy relatives and leaves his $11 billion fortune to a mysterious illegitimate daughter who does charity work in the Brazilian wetlands. A washed up lawyer helps her battle her relatives over his money.

According to the report, Johnson was very persistent, keeping on Grisham and his agent David Gernert for almost a decade.

The Testament will be one of several Grisham legal thrillers coming to theaters. Others include an adaptation of Grisham’s non-fiction book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, which is currently set up at Warner Brothers; Playing for Pizza, with a script by J. Mills Goodloe and Adam Shankman directing, which is being produced by Phoenix Pictures; and Paramount Pictures’ The Associate with Shia LaBeouf and Lorenzo di Bonaventura producing.