‘Testament’ Novel By ‘Rambo’ Creator David Morrell Getting Feature Treatment From ‘Virgin River’ Producer

EXCLUSIVE: Reel World Management, an LA-based production, financing, and distribution company that specializes in partnering with branded authors, is doing a feature adaptation of Testament, based on the 1975 novel by New York Times bestselling author David Morrell, who created the character of Rambo in his debut novel, First Blood.

Reel World execs Roma Roth and Christopher E. Perry have hired Ian Jeffers to pen the screenplay. Jeffers wrote the novella and co-wrote the screen adaptation of The Grey starring Liam Neeson and produced by Ridley Scott. His other credits include Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon.

Testament is a survival thriller that follows an ordinary family that must face extraordinary circumstances after being forced to flee into a wilderness as extreme and unrelenting as the people hunting them. This is the first feature project for Reel World.

Roth and Perry currently serve as executive producers on the Netflix series Virgin River which was also based on the best selling novel series.

“I’ve been waiting for the underlying rights for Testament to become available for close to 20 years,” said Roth. “I’ve never come across another book that stayed with me in quite the same way. It grabs you from the first page and never lets you go. Ian Jeffers is the perfect writer to bring this powerful and emotional exploration of family and survival to life.”

Morrell added, “I am thrilled to be working with Reel World Management and Roma Roth, a dedicated and talented filmmaker who shares both my passion and vision for the novel.”

Jeffers is repped by Lit Entertainment Group and Myman Greenspan Fox Rosenberg Mobasser Younger & Light LLP. Morrell is repped by Dystel/Goderich/Bourret Literary Management.