“Hairspray” director Adam Shankman will direct the big-screen version of John Grisham’s best-seller “Playing for Pizza,” according to Variety.

The book centers on an experienced NFL quarterback who flees to Italy after messing up his chance to take his team to the Super Bowl. There, he ends up working with a semiprofessional team struggling to win the Italian National Football League.

"We want to make this grittier than the book, a cross between 'North Dallas Forty' and 'Jerry Maguire,'” Shankman told Variety.

Shankman is directing a script by J. Mills Goodloe, who recently collaborated on the screenplay for Sunu Gonera’s “Pride.”

Shankman’s directing credits also include “Bringing Down the House” and “The Pacifier.” He also recently completed “Bedtime Stories,” a family comedy starring Adam Sandler and Courteney Cox.