Clooney Buys Rights To Grisham's 'Innocent Man'

George Clooney, although mourning the loss of his beloved pet pig this week, has purchased the movie rights to best-selling John Grisham book, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. The movie will be produced by Smoke House, co-owned by Clooney and Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck), in association with Warner Independent Pictures.

According to Variety magazine, Grisham will be paid seven figures for the rights, and a percentage of gross receipts if the movie makes it to the screen. The book centers around a former baseball player who spends 11 years on death row after wrongful convictions for rape and murder. It is a true story (based on the life of Ron Williamson), and Grisham's first nonfiction publication.

If the film does get to production it will only strengthen the relationship between Smoke House and Warner Independent, who are currently collaborating on another book adaptation, White Jazz, by James Ellroy.