Ever since 1989, John Grisham has been a beloved American author. Focusing generally on legal fiction, his books have sold over 250 million copies worldwide. At the point in time of this writing, he has written 17 legal fiction books with another likely for November 2009, 4 non-legal fiction books and one non-fiction book. There have been 10 films made from his books, with one in the works.
His second book, “The Firm”, was the earliest book to be completed into a motion picture back in 1993. In this motion picture, starring Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Gene Hackman, a youthful Harvard Law School graduate begins working at a rather suspicious Memphis law firm. In that same year of 1993, a second John Grisham story to motion picture came out, “The Pelican Brief” starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington.
In 1994, “The Client” was released. In this movie a young boy accidentally witnesses a suicide and he is accordingly chased by the mob for what they think the dying man may have told him. “The Client” starred Susan Sarandon, Tommy Lee Jones and the late Brad Renfro.
Grisham’s very first novel, and some may say his greatest tale, was “A Time To Kill”. This storyline was made into a film in 1996 and it introduced an up and coming new actor in the lead character, Matthew McConaughey. It also starred Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Also from the year 1996 was “The Chamber” starring Chris O’Donnell, Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway.
“The Rainmaker” came out in 1997, with Matt Damon in the lead character as a rookie lawyer who takes on a case of a little boy denied medical treatment by a controlling insurance company. In 1998, the only Grisham movie from an non published manuscript came out. “The Gingerbread Man” starred Kenneth Branagh and Robert Downey, Jr.
2 of Grisham’s non-legal fiction books have been made into films, “A Painted House” in 2003 and “Christmas with the Kranks”, starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis, which is adapted from the book “Skipping Christmas”.
“The Runaway Jury” came out in 2003. This picture starred Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz. Grisham’s 21st book, “The Associate”, just released as a book in January 2009, will be released as a picture in 2012.
Grisham has unquestionably been one of the most popular and productive writers in the recent past. With twenty-two stories out and another intended for November 2009, 10 films and another considered for 2012, he has never failed to entertain us. If you happened to miss any of these impressive films you can now download them directly to your computer to see right away on your computer, Television or even your iPhone.
