LOS ANGELES — The estate of "The Godfather" author Mario Puzo got an offer it couldn't refuse and settled a $1-million lawsuit relating to a videogame loosely based on the film, lawyers said Friday.

Lawyers for the Puzo estate had filed suit against Paramount Pictures Corp. in June, alleging it was owed profits from sales and rentals of the game "The Godfather: The Game," licensed by Paramount in 2006.

But the possibility of a trial was averted on Friday after the two sides reached a settlement, the terms of which were not immediately clear.

"We think it's a terrific settlement," said the Puzo estate's attorney, Bert Fields. "This involved one of the most admired films of all time."

Paramount attorney Hajir Ardebili was not immediately available for comment. In court papers filed in August, the studio denied it owed any money.

Mario Puzo died in 1999.

His best-known novel "The Godfather," charting the rise of a Sicilian mafia family based in New York, was published in 1969 and became one of the 20th century's best-selling novels, with more than 20 million copies sold.

The book was adapted into an Oscar-winning movie by Francis Ford Coppola, followed by a sequel, "The Godfather: Part II."