MovieChat Forums > John Grisham Discussion > What happened to him?

What happened to him?

posted 8 years ago by PrimeMinisterX (8857)
22 replies | jump to latest

He had the best selling novel of 1991 in The Firm. And in 1993, the film adaptation of The Firm was the fourth highest-grossing movie of the year. Grisham fever seemed to sweep the nation, as more novels and more movies came out, all of them performing very well financially.

The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Rainmaker, A Time to Kill and so on. His books and the films they spawned were everywhere and were very popular.

But then around 2000 he just seemed to fade away.

[–] [deleted] 8 years ago

Mephistopheles came for his soul.

[–] earl237 (1106) 8 years ago

Nearly every writer, actor or musician has a peak in their career and then declines, few can stay popular forever. Even Stephen King's later books haven't been as memorable as his early classics.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 8 years ago

That's true, but King's star has shone far longer than Grisham's ever did. It was as if the public just suddenly tired of him.

King is a juggernaut that has stayed relevant for decades; Grisham feels more like a fad.

[–] Cheepshooter (672) 8 years ago

Some people make several million, then basically retire. I'm sure he'll write another book, eventually. I'm sure you're worried about it more than he is. 😃

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 8 years ago

I think he has continued to write. I'm not sure how many people have cared, but I saw something by him at the library earlier today that looked recent.

The film adaptations seem to have all dried up though, and I know he has several books that have not been adapted.

It's interesting how fickle the public is.

[–] Cheepshooter (672) 8 years ago

It goes in waves. In a few years, procedural/law movies will be the rage again (with someone other than me, though).

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 8 years ago

We'll see. It seems like the cinematic landscape is changing, especially in regard to what we're seeing in theaters.

Now it's mostly superhero movies, animated kids films and Star Wars.

[–] Cheepshooter (672) 8 years ago

Like I said, waves. The "direct to netflix" market has changed things, though. Who knows what will happen.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 6 years ago

I rewatched The Rainmaker a few days ago and that really is such a good film!

So again I ask: What happened to him?

Looking at his Wikipedia page I see that he's continued to regularly publish novels in the 21st century, but virtually none of them have actually been turned into films.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 5 years ago

My suspicion is that Hollywood felt like the Grisham train ran out of steam, at least in terms of film adaptations. And if we look at the numbers, it's actually difficult to argue with that.

If we look at the last four Grisham adaptations, here's what we find:

The Chamber - 12% RT score, $23 million gross against a $50 million budget
The Rainmaker - 82% RT score, $45 million gross against a $40 million budget
The Gingerbread Man - 58% RT score, $1.7 million gross (?!) against a $25 million budget
Runaway Jury - 73% RT score, $80 million gross against a $60 million budget

So the critical reception was mixed and none of those films turned a profit at the box office. I've seen them all and the only one that is genuinely good is The Rainmaker. The Gingerbread Man is kind of interesting, but not exactly a good film. The Chamber was disappointing and Runaway Jury I actively dislike.

[–] Poozer91 (628) 5 years ago

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. The movie adaptations seemed to have dried up as his last story to be adapted was Christmas with the Kranks, which is an awful movie. I think law movies had their heyday in the 90s and then they stopped producing them. However, he still writes as I see his new novels in print in libraries and Wal-Mart.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 5 years ago

Yeah, I don't really count Christmas With the Kranks just because it's in an entirely different genre that Grisham isn't known for. It was kind of a one-off. I actually like the movie though and often watch it during the Christmas season.

Legal dramas still pop up from time to time, though. The Lincoln Lawyer with Matthew McConaughey came out in 2011 and did fairly well financially. I remember there was also that movie Marshall that came out just a few years ago and another one around the same time called Denial with Rachel Weisz. And Keanu Reeves had a lackluster legal thriller in 2016 called The Whole Truth.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 5 years ago

I really doubt that he has much interest in getting into the film production business. I suspect it's not really THAT important to him, since he is already rich. But who knows. I'm sure that at the very least he misses the checks that came along with selling the film rights.

I definitely believe this is a matter of producers no longer seeing the value in releasing "John Grisham films." As we see in the numbers I posted above, the profit just wasn't there anymore by the end, and producers probably just gave up after multiple failed attempts.

I know there was a TV series that was supposed to be a sequel to The Firm, itself also simply called The Firm, but it was poorly received by critics and only lasted one season, so I guess the ratings weren't great either.

I remember reading a few years ago that another one of his stories was being adapted for television, but it appears that project did not actually come to fruition.

I think the most important thing, if Hollywood wants to give Grisham another go, will be to actually make good movies. Because of the four films I listed in my previous post, I'd say only The Rainmaker was a genuinely good film. You can't pump out mediocre product and expect people to keep coming back.

[–] PaladinNJ (21771) 4 years ago

He's not interested at all. He doesn't actively seek out studios to make movies.

As I understand it, if a studio contacts him about doing one of his books. He looks over their proposal and says yes or no. If they come to terms, he signs over the rights and says see on you on opening night. That's why so many of his movies are changed. Closest he has ever come to getting involved is when Julia Roberts expressed interest in Pelican Brief and he said something along the lines of, she is Darby - cast her.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 4 years ago

Well at least as of the last 15 years or so, it seems like either the studios are not very interested or he's not signing.

[–] screenwriter (111) 5 years ago

He's out spending his $350 million net worth.

[–] BourbonKing (5788) 5 years ago

I would say that the genre in which his stories often take place (legal thrillers) ran their course with the general audiences as they matured and moved on to other things.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 5 years ago

As I was just saying to Poozer above, legal thrillers still get made from time to time. The Lincoln Lawyer was fairly good and made almost $90 million against a $40 million budget, so I think that shows people will go see them if they look interesting and the cast is right.

I think there is still a place for films like this. I enjoy them, when they are well-made. No need to bury the whole genre, I don't think. I don't think the problem with the Grisham films were that the genre ran out of steam, but rather that too many of them were of questionable quality.

[–] BourbonKing (5788) 5 years ago

That's true, but today we're in the Age of Superheroes and cheap thrillers. I never thought of Grisham as a sophisticated novelist. His books read like movies, just like Michael Crichton, Stephen King, Tom Clancy, and Dean Koontz. The 90s were a prime decade to have his books adapted for the big screen as there were so many different genres in that decade alone making a splash at the box office.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8857) 5 years ago

I never did read any of his books, though I did once check out The Firm from the library. I only got a few pages in though so it was an aborted attempt.

I have, however, seen all of his films and I think the best of them are quite enjoyable. The Rainmaker (the best of the lot in, my opinion), A Time to Kill and The Client are all highly watchable, and The Pelican Brief isn't bad either. (The Firm, despite its popularity, I think is actually overrated.)

If anything, I think you highlight one of the very reasons why we NEED to have this genre resurrected. As you say, there's a lot of "sameness" to so many of the films today. We need a greater variety and some fun legal thrillers would be a welcome change from the status quo.