Summary

  • Exciting news for John Grisham fans, as The Rainmaker is now being adapted into a legal drama TV show by USA Networks.
  • Grisham and Jason Blum are producing the new series, which will follow lawyer Rudy Baylor as he takes on courtroom battles and uncovers conspiracies.
  • The show promises intense drama as Rudy and his team investigate the mysterious death of a client's son, facing challenges from both a powerful lawyer and a former girlfriend.

John Grisham's novel The Rainmaker is becoming a TV show, after previously being adapted into the 1997 film starring The Rainmaker was a late film in the Grisham cycle, and proved to be a box office disappointment, grossing just $45.9 million on a budget of $40 million.

Now over 30 years after the novel was first adapted into an under-performing film, The Rainmaker will serve as the basis for a new legal drama series from USA Networks, with Grisham and Jason Blum on-board as executive producers. Michael Seitzman (North Country) co-wrote the show’s pilot along with Jason Richman (The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon), and will now pen the series. The show's synopsis reads as follows (via Variety):

“Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

How The Rainmaker Show Can Outdo The 1997 Movie

Matt Damon and Danny Devito in The Rainmaker

Though Coppola’s Rainmaker adaptation was a flop at the box office, it did do well with critics, as reflected in its 82% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film indeed had all the earmarks of a sure-fire hit, featuring as it did an acclaimed director, a strong cast headed up by newly-minted star Damon, and the then-bankable Grisham stamp. Despite everything The Rainmaker had going for it, the movie failed to generate the box office buzz Paramount was hoping for.

It will be difficult for USA’s Rainmaker show to impress critics as much as the 1997 movie, which boasted heavyweight talent both in front of and behind the camera. At the same time, the factors that held back the movie’s box office are no longer in play as the novel makes its way to the small screen. Grisham fatigue had arguably set in by 1997, hurting the movie’s box office prospects, but that is no longer a problem. Coppola’s brand had also lost some shine when the movie came out, thanks to the director’s critically-bashed 1996 movie Jack.

Starring Robin Williams, Coppola's Jack was crushed by critics, as reflected in its 17% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but was a modest box office succes with $78 million grossed on a budget of $45 million.

The Rainmaker show may not have the same level of talent behind it as the movie, but it also doesn’t have big expectations to contend with, nor will it have to overcome such factors as Coppola’s sagging late-90s reputation, or Grisham market over-saturation. As a TV series, the show can go deeper into character than the movie could, and give more nuance to Grisham’s story. The legal drama genre is still a good bet on TV, and given its source material, The Rainmaker has a solid chance to be a hit for USA, outdoing the movie in of popularity.

Source: Variety