Writer extraordinaire John Grisham, probably the most popular storyteller and author of 23 novels, and responsible for such classics as ‘A Time to Kill,’ ‘The Pelican Brief,’ ‘The Rainmaker,‘ etc, and of course ‘The Firm,’ which Tom Cruise brought to the big screen, is now coming to NBC’s small screen with a special two-hour premiere Sunday, January 8 from 9-11pm ET. After that, it moves to its regular time slot Thursday’s at 10p ET.
Taking the place of Tom Cruise is the almost as delicious Josh Lucas (Sweet Home Alabama) in the story of lawyer Mitch McDeere, who you’ll remember as a young associate, had brought down the prestigious Memphis law firm Bendini, Lambert & Locke, which had been operating as a front for the Chicago mob. The story picks up to find Mitch in his life having just gone through 10 years of witness protection.
John Grisham and Lukas Reiter did a press conference call with us reporters and here’s some of it.
Said, Executive Producer Lukas Reiter who used to work on a show u may know ‘Law & Order.’ “It’s a story about a family and their lives and their work and how they relate to each other. We plan on carrying on the spirit of that storytelling.”
After a difficult decade, which included a stay in the Federal Witness Protection Program, McDeere and his family now emerge from isolation to reclaim their lives and their future — only to find that past dangers are still lurking and new threats are everywhere.
Was Grisham who is also executive producer, hesitant to bring it to the small screen after not having much success with ‘The Client’ series years ago?
“It certainly gave me great hesitation because it was such a dreadful show and a painful experience. I didn’t want to do it again for a long time and forgot about television, you know, over the years. But ‘The Client,’ you know did not last long for a lot of valid reasons.
I was not excited about ‘The Firm,’ didn’t really think about it as a TV show until Luke Reiter appeared on the scene and showed me a script and when I read Luke’s script a couple of years ago I thought it was very good and kind of got excited about the idea of a weekly drama.”
What can we expect from the two-hour premiere?
“It’s very well done. It’s very entertaining. It’s you know, I love suspense. That’s what I write, that’s what I like to watch, that’s what I think about. I’m always trying to create a story that will keep readers up all night turning pages, skipping work, skipping meals, calling – you know that’s what I strive to do whenever I have a good suspenseful story. The TV show is the same way. It’s a lot of action but also a lot of good drama where you see the characters stop and think and reflect and, you know, they’re real people. And it’s really good cast.”
Speaking of said cast, joining Lucas is Molly Parker (Dexter, Deadwood) as his wife Abby, Callum Keith Rennie (‘The Killing,’ ‘Californication’) as his brother Ray, and Juliette Lewis (Natural Born Killer, Cape Fear) as his feisty, sexy receptionist, who Holly Hunter made us fall in love with in the original. No doubt Lewis will bring the same excitement.
Believe it or not one of the reporters on the press call asked the following question:
Was there ever any talk of trying to get Tom Cruise to play the lead?
Said Lukas, “That – I don’t think that was ever really raised as a possibility.” Uh hum. Right. Mr. Cruise is not ready for TV just yet, Gossip Gal say’s to herself with a smirky smile.
Any worries the show won’t be as successful as the book or movie?
“No, I’m not worried at all. And I’ll tell you I’m not worried because I’m convinced the show is going to be a success. Also, personally, I’ve had so much success because of that one book that nothing could, you know, worry me about it now.”
And just like us, Grisham will be watching on his couch with his family. “I’m so looking forward to January 8th to sit back with my family and watch two hours of ‘The Firm.”