New Remake of Matt Damon’s Beloved John Grisham Adaptation Takes Streaming by Storm

Director Francis Ford Coppola was in dire straits when he directed The Rainmaker in the late 1990s. He’d just completed a decade of making precisely the kind of studio movies that he swore he wouldn’t, forced to do so because he was financially struggling in the decade prior and had no choice but to work his way back up. After The Rainmaker, however, Coppola decided to take a step back from Hollywood, recognizing that the industry had moved past him. What made matters worse was that the movie, based on John Grisham‘s bestseller, didn’t do well at the box office despite a star-studded cast and positive reviews. To this day, it remains an underrated entry in Coppola’s filmography. Now, a new television adaptation of the Grisham novel is getting enough attention for audiences to revisit the film.

USA Network’s The Rainmaker became an instant streaming hit upon its recent debut and has now reclaimed the number one spot on the domestic Amazon charts after its season finale. The new show stars Milo Callahan and John Slattery, in the roles played by Matt Damon and Jon Voight in the film. Released in 1997, the movie made just $45 million at the worldwide box office, against a reported budget of $40 million. By comparison, the previous year’s Grisham adaptation, A Time to Kill, made over $150 million against the same budget. Two years before that, The Client made nearly $120 million globally against a reported budget of $45 million. A year before The Client, The Firm grossed nearly $280 million globally, also against a similar budget.

‘The Rainmaker’ Series Wasn’t as Well-Received as the Movie

Also starring Claire Danes and Danny DeVito, The Rainmaker movie earned positive reviews and is now sitting at an 82% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The critics’ consensus reads, “Invigorated by its talented cast and Francis Ford Coppola’s strong direction, The Rainmaker is a satisfying legal drama — and arguably the best of Hollywood’s many John Grisham adaptations.” The new show, however, has earned mixed reviews. It’s sitting at a 50% score on RT, where the consensus reads, “Stripping John Grisham’s novel of its flavor in favor of a more cliché courtroom format, this Rainmaker adaptation only produces intermittent showers.” You can watch the show at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.