Dreamworks will turn Kathryn Stockett’s 2009 novel “The Help” into a film.

“You heard it here first folks,” the Atlanta author’s Facebook page announced yesterday. “Dreamworks SKG has announced that it has acquired the rights. Yay!”

The page is generally authored by actress Octavia Spencer, who has toured with Stockett in support of the book and is expected to star in the film.

Stockett, a Mississippi native who now lives here, was living in New York when she wrote the novel. She talked with CBS’ Katie Couric about the book recently. View the video clip of the interview here.

The book has remained at or near the top of the New York Times bestseller list for close to a year.