A new series based on John Grisham’s 1995 novel The Rainmaker and the 1997 film adaptation has been greenlit at the USA Network. Grisham serves as executive producer on the series alongside Jason Blum, while Blumhouse Television and Lionsgate Television serve as the studios.
The official logline reads, 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.
Michael Seitzman will write The Rainmaker, having co-written the pilot with Jason Richman. Along with Grisham and Blum, executive producers include Seitzman, Richman, and David Gernert.
Why Now
The Rainmaker’s greenlight comes as concluded USA Network titles Suits and White Collar resurge in popularity following their additions to Netflix. The NBCUniversal-owned cabler currently only airs one scripted series, Chucky
, which also airs on Syfy.
Creative Minds Behind the Series
Seitzman is best known for creating Code Black
, the medical drama that ran on CBS for three seasons from 2015 to 2018, and Intelligence
, the action series that ran on CBS for one season in 2014. He also wrote the Blumhouse film She Will Rise
, starring Elizabeth Moss as former Congresswoman Katie Hill.
Richman created the ABC crime drama Stumptown
, which ran for one season on ABC from 2019 to 2020. He also wrote and executive produced on The Walking Dead
spinoff Daryl Dixon
, which will air its second season on AMC this fall.
A Classic Story Revived
The Rainmaker’s first screen adaptation was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starred Matt Damon as Rudy. The cast also included Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Roy Scheider, Virginia Madsen, and Teresa Wright. The film was well received, with Variety’s review at the time saying that the story of a young Southern lawyer taking on an evil insurance giant exerts an almost irresistible David and Goliath appeal, and proves absorbing from beginning to end.
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