Deadline is reporting that the acclaimed John Grisham novel The Rainmaker could be heading to the small screen, with CBS placing a pilot commitment for a TV adaptation from Code Black creator Michael Seitzman and executive producer Brett Mahoney.
The Rainmaker follows “a young lawyer who thinks he’s about to have it all – a six-figure salary and a beautiful fiancée – but suddenly finds all that ripped away, squaring off against the behemoth firm he dreamed of joining, in a case that could get him killed.
“I’ve always loved Grisham’s book,” said Seitzman. “One of the things that always struck me about it is that the story has a wonderful character for a TV show – a young lawyer right out of law school, no money, no white shoe law firm scooping him up, forced to work for a crooked lawyer named Bruiser, representing criminals one minute and chasing ambulances the next. Then he stumbles on a big case against an impossible adversary, with high stakes that are both professional and personal. That just feels like a show I want to watch.”
The 1995 novel was previously adapted for the big screen in 1997, with Francis Ford Coppola directing a cast that included Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Jon Voight, Claire Danes, Danny Glover, Mary Kay Place and Mickey Rourke.
Originally published October 17, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
