Phoenix Pictures has picked up the movie rights to John Grisham's best-selling novel Playing for Pizza.

The story centers on a washed-up NFL quarterback who finds a new perspective on life and a love for all things Italian when his agent lands him a deal to play with a semi-professional team in Parma, Italy. The novel is one of Grisham's' few non-legal tomes, and it ironically came together when the lawyer-turned-author was in Italy researching "The Broker."

The Hollywood Reporter says the search for a writer in the project is under way, with the company looking to put together the project in a similar fashion it did with Zodiac and the Martin Scorsese/Leonardo DiCaprio project Shutter Island, which is in production for Paramount.