John Grisham’s The Rainmaker Gets Series Order at USA Network — Who Should Fill the Matt Damon Role?
Yes, you read that headline right — USA Network has ordered to series a scripted drama. (We had to double-check it ourselves. USA Network!)
TVLine has learned that the basic cabler once regarded as the home to “blue sky” television has given a straight-to-series order to an adaptation of the 1995 John Grisham novel The Rainmaker and the 1997 film of the same name.
Michael Seitzman (Code Black) and Jason Richman (Stumptown) co-wrote the series’ pilot and will serve as executive producers alongside Grisham, David Gernert and Jason Blum.
In The Rainmaker, Rudy Baylor, fresh out of law school, “goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond” (as well as his law school girlfriend). Along the way, Rudy, his boss and a disheveled paralegal uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.
The Rainmaker previously was adapted as the aforementioned film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon (as Rudy) and Danny DeVito (as paralegal Deck). Mickey Rourke played Rudy’s boss, J. Lyman “Bruiser” Stone, and Jon Voight played courtroom adversary Leo F. Drummond. Mary Kay Place played Rudy’s client, Margarine “Dot” Black.
Who are your “armchair casting director” picks to succeed Damon, DeVito, Rourke (note, it appears that character is now female) and Voight? Weigh in below!
My pick is Matt Czuchry (The Resident)!
He’s way too old. The character is supposed to be fresh out of law school. He’s only 6 years younger than Damon and he played the role 27 years ago.
They don’t have to start the series where the movie ended.
This sounds like an adaptation of the novel/movie. Not a decades later sequel.
Correct. “…an adaptation of the 1995 John Grisham novel The Rainmaker and the 1997 film of the same name.”
Joel Courtney from Super 8
Adaptation basically means intellectual property these days. Age means nothing. Matty could kill that role. Rege-Jene Page and Nicholas Chavez are great ideas too. A disenchanted Russell Crowe type to take over Bruiser. No one can replace Danny. Change it up a bit and go the anxious, tech genius route (who knows everything about insurance, not so much about “legal” law!) maybe a female. This is my favorite book and can’t wait to hear how it plays out. 😁
Danny DeVito. Or Danny can reprise his role from the movie. What I’m saying is, I hope Danny DeVito is involved.
I believe that in this case the term is paralawyer
Yep. In the book, Deck couldn’t bass the bar exam but had finished law school so he cannot practice as an attorney.
Why not Matt Damon???
Jacob Elori or Regé-Jean Page
Former GH actor Nicholas Chavez
Christopher Briney (Summer I Turned Pretty)
Taylor John Smith (Sharp Objects/Where the Crawdads Sing)
Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us)
Taylor Zakhar Perez (Kissing Booth/Red White Royal Blue)
Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea)
Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things)
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Chevalier)